
Book T^-gMZ 

Coipglit}^!* 



CCFXRIGHT DEPOSm 




MOUNTED HEADS OF SPECIMENS SHOT BY THE AUTHOR 




MOUNTED HEADS OF SPECIMENS SHOT BV THE AUTHOR 



Hunting in 
British East Africa 



BY 



PERCY C. MADEIRA 



WITH A FOREWORD BY 

FREDERICK COURTENEY SELOUS 

AND 

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR 




PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1909 






^^^^ 



COPYRIGHT, 1909. BY THE METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE COMPANY 
COPYRIGHT. 1909, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 



PUBLISHED DECEMBER, 1909 



PRINTED BY J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS, PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. 



©CI.A2534'^4 



DEDICATED TO 

A GIRL 

AND TWO BOYS 

WHO STAYED AT HOME 

.AND FOR WHOM THIS STORY WAS WRITTEN 



FOREWORD 

It was about a year ago that I received a visit from 
Mr. Percy C. Madeira of Philadelphia and heard from 
his own lips an account of his hunting experiences in 
British East Africa, from which country, he and his 
wife who had accompanied him throughout his travels, 
had only recently returned. Mr. Madeira has now sent 
me for perusal the written account of his East African 
hunting expedition with a request that I would try and 
find time to read it, and that if I found it interesting I 
would write a few sentences by way of a ** Foreword.'* 
All that I can say is that I have found Mr. Madeira's 
notes of his journey through the most richly stocked 
game country to be found in the world to-day, of very 
great interest. I have myself only just returned from a 
hunting trip in East Africa, during which I travelled 
over a portion of the same ground over which 
Mr. Madeira hunted and had for a companion Mr. 
Williams, who also accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Madeira 
on their hunting expedition two years ago, so that I can 
vouch for the accuracy of Mr. Madeira's descriptions 
of that part of the country and the abundance of game 
he met with. Mr. Madeira's narrative is a plain, un- 
varnished tale, modestly yet interestingly told, and 
I trust that it will have a wide circulation, and it 
should certainly prove of great interest to all Amer- 
ican sportsmen who contemplate a trip to the wonder- 



FOREWORD 

ful hunting grounds of East Africa, where I am sure 
they will meet with every assistance at the hands of the 
British authorities and settlers in that country and find 
a happy hunting ground stocked with an abundance 
and variety of game beyond their highest hopes. I 
cannot conclude these few words of appreciative com- 
ment on Mr. Madeira's book without recording my 
admiration for his wife, a lady whose personal acquain- 
tance I have not yet made, but of whom I have heard 
a great deal. I think the grit and powers of endurance 
shown by Mrs. Madeira when lost and wandering for 
so long a time without food or water in the rough, 
broken country between the Tana and Thika Rivers, 
little short of marvellous. 

Frederick Courteney Selous 



WoBPLESDON, Surrey, England 
September 29, 1909 



PREFACE 

Big game hunting in British East Africa is un- 
doubtedly unequalled in any part of the world, and for 
the sportsman who is fond of a rifle it is a paradise. 
There is more game to be secured, much greater variety, 
and, in the way of excitement, far more danger than in 
any other country for the man who hunts as a " lone 
gun," for he does not know from one instant to another 
what the next bush, shadow, or tree may hide. The 
innocent-looking rock lying in the grass twenty or 
thirty yards from you may become a pugnacious rhi- 
noceros; the silently stalking buffalo that has watched 
your approach, unseen by you, may suddenly charge 
out from the shadow of a tree ; a lion may start up from 
the cover of a bunch of grass or a bush just ahead of 
you — all of which render it a matter of keyed-up atten- 
tion that is not, I imagine, approached in any other 
country. 

The sensation and glamour which one commences 
to feel as soon as Africa is reached sweeps over one 
on the first visit, and impresses itself very strongly. 
Whether ever overcome, I do not know. Nearly every 
one who has hunted there plans to return. Whether it 
is the East, as Kiphng describes it, with its mys'tery, 
its excitement and dangers; the queer and barbarous 



PREFACE 

savages that carry one's thoughts always back into the 
primitive past; the blinding blaze of the sun, or the 
monotonous brown of the entire landscape, I cannot 
tell; but they bring a fascination that is indescribable. 

To the hunter pure and simple, the man who loves 
to shoot and kill and who would make a good bag, 
undoubtedly Africa, with all its charms, luxuries, and 
possibilities of success, is unparalleled. Around the 
camp-fires we had many discussions as to which is the 
most attractive of all the different countries which we 
knew. 

When one is sitting in Africa, it is difficult to 
explain the beauty, silence, and charm of the North 
Canadian woods, with the hardships and disappoint- 
ments which the hunter encounters in this latter country. 
Day after day, and week after week, he works just as 
hard to secure a single specimen of moose, caribou, bear, 
sheep, or goat, as for a dozen different ones in Africa; 
and the physical labor gone through is almost unparal- 
leled and would not be possible in the latter country, 
owing to climatic conditions. Yet it is a question 
whether the pleasure of getting this one moose or one 
sheep that has been tracked and watched for day after 
day, is not a greater satisfaction than the quick and sure 
return that a fraction of the amount of work in Africa 
will bring one. 

To the man who really loves the outdoor life, the 
enjoyment is not of necessity in the number of animals 
he kills, for I really think that the fun of the hunt is over 

8 



PREFACE 

the minute the rifle comes up to the shoulder and the 
bead is on the animal. I do not believe any man likes 
to see animals die. I am sure I do not. The charm 
lies in the fascination and excitement of the chase, with 
the killing alone to be regretted. 

To him who loves nature and the wild, free life of 
the camp, each different country has its attraction, and 
it would be impossible to describe one as greater than 
the other. The wild, rugged mountains, with their 
sheep and goats, and the free air of the peaks, are 
missing in Africa, just as is the smell of the balsam, the 
whispering of the spruce and the fir, the crunching of 
snow-shoes, and the tap of the paddle on the edge of 
the canoe, which one finds in the North Canadian woods. 
Yet the excitement and danger, the glare and mystery, 
of Africa are things unknown to the hunters of the 
mountains and woods of the western continent. 

So each has its charm, each its own particular place 
in the heart of the man who loves the wilds, and whether 
the hunt brings success and a fine trophy, or whether it 
does not, the pleasure and the freedom are still there, 
and I believe its attractions stay until the end. When 
once this fever of the wild gets into a man's blood, I 
believe it is never lost, and, whether the call is from the 
cold and snows of the mountains, the dense forests of the 
North, the plains of Africa, or the jungles of India, 
it is always the same, and undying. 

P. C. M. 

November, 1909 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAQS 

I. Arrangements for the Hunt 17 

II. Mombasa, the Uganda Railroad and Nairobi 26 

III. The Athi Plains and Mr. McMillan's Farm 37 

IV. A Buffalo Hunt at Punda Millia 51 

V. Natives on the Route 63 

VI. Big Game Shooting and its Dangers 71 

VII. A Rhino and Other Game 84 

VIII. A Hard Hunt near the Tana River 92 

IX. A Hippopotamus Pool 101 

X. Somali Injured in Encounter with Buffaloes 109 

XI. Mrs. Madeira Lost and in Danger 120 

XII. Natives and their Peculiarities 135 

XIII. Camping and its incidents 150 

XIV. Government Protection op Natives 162 

XV. Hunting the Oryx Beisa in Laikipia 168 

XVI. Ferocity of Rhinos and Buffaloes 173 

XVII. Elephants Near Us 182 

XVIII. Lion Hunting by Night and Day 190 

XIX. More of Lions 199 

XX. A Lioness is Killed 211 

XXI. Giraffe Hunting on the Guaso Nyiro 221 

XXII. The Uncertainties and Chances in Hunting 230 

XXIII. From the Guaso Nyiro to Rumeruti 239 

XXIV, The Plains of Laikipia 248 

XXV. Concerning Birds and Insects 259 

XXVI. Roan Antelope and Leopard 271 

XXVII. Muhoroni and its Game 281 

XXVIII. The End of the Trip 287 

Appendix 291 

Index 297 



11 



The author takes this opportunity of expressing his 
great thanks and appreciation to Mr. F. C. Selous for 
the very kind "Foreword" which he has written to 
this story, and for the trouble which he took in going 
over the proofs. 

To Mr. W. T. Hornaday, Director of the New 
York Zoological Society, for his kind interest and 
advice in some matters connected with the descrip- 
tions of the fauna, which have been invaluable. 

To Rowland Ward, Limited, for information in 
regard to measurements of some of the animals ob- 
tained from "Record Heads." 

To Mr. E. Hubert Litchfield for a photograph of 
an eland and wart-hog. 

To Messrs. Newland, Tarleton & Company for 
photographs of " Vasco da Gama Street, Mombasa," 
"Kilindini Harbor" and the "Uganda Railroad," his 
own negatives of which views were failures. (With 
the exception of these photographs, all the illustra- 
tions were taken with the author's own cameras.) 



MAPS 

(In Pocket at End of Volume) 



General Map of British East Africa. 
Map of Route of the Safari. *^ 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Mounted Heads of Specimens Shot by the Author Frontispiece I 

Mounted Heads of Specimens Shot by the Author Frontiapiece II 

The Landing-place at Port Said 18 

The Market-place at Aden 18 

Disembarking at Mombasa 20 

An Aden Water Cart 20 

Mombasa Harbor 22 

Kilindini Harbor 24 

A Mombasa Garry 26 

The Old Fort on the Main Street of Mombasa 28 ' 

Vasco Da Gama Street in Mombasa 30' 

Mrs. Madeira in a Mombasa Rickshaw 31 '" 

En route from Mombasa to Nairobi on a Baldwin Locomotive 32 

The Uganda Railroad 34 ^ 

The Main Street in Nairobi 35 ' 

Rickshaw Riding at Nairobi 36 

Mrs. Madeira and Gun Bearers on the Plains 38 ' 

Coke's Hartebeest on the Plains 39 

Coke's Hartebeest 40 

Wildebeest or White-bearded Brindled Gnu 40 

Grant's Gazelle 42 ^ 

Safari Leaving Athi Plains for Mr. McMillan's Juja Farm 44^ 

On the Athi Plains 44 

Impalla 47 ' 

Wildebeest Shot at Mr. McMillan's Farm 48 

Mr. McMillan's Juja Farm 48 

Through the High Grass in Search of Buffalo 50 

Cheetah Shot at Thika Falls 52 

Women Grinding Grain at Fort Hall 52 

Serval Cat 56 

13 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Cheetah 56^ 

A Primitive Ferry Across the Tana River 60 

Safari Crossing Tana River 62*^ 

Safari Arriving at Fort Embo 64" 

Masai War Dance 64 

A War Party of Masai at Fort Embo 68' 

Masai War Dance 68 

Eland 72^ 

Waterbuck Shot on Riping Waler River 74"^ 

Impalla 74 

A Good Bag: Two Elands and a Waterbuck 76 J, 

Black Rhinoceros 77 

Williams and His First Waterbuck 80 " 

Wounded Eland • 82 ^ 

Waterbuck 84 

Steinbuck 87 

Duiker 87 

Mrs. Madeira and Rhino 88 

My First Rhino 90 

Mrs. Madeira and Wakamba Porter with Three Wart-hog Heads 92 "" 

An Eland Bull and Baccari 94^^ 

Baccari Carrying an Eland Head 96 " 

Wart-hog 98"^ 

Safari on the March near the Tana River 100 

Bushbuck 102 

Thomson's Gazelle 102 

Hippo and Porters on the Banks of the Tana 104' 

Hippopotamus 106*' 

Ali Aden and Hippo Shot on Tana River 108-'' 

Hippopotamus 110" 

Cape Buffalo 112 

Camp near the Buffalo Herd 114 

Carrying Ali Shirwa on a Litter to Fort Hall 114 

Cape Buffalo 116 

The Hippo Pool on the Tana River .- 120 

Crossing the Tana River the Morning of January 18th 120 

Typical of the Country We Crossed After Leaving the Tana River 122 

JJear the Maharagua River 124- 

Trophies Secured up to January 18th and Shipped from Fort Hall to 

Nairobi 134 

A Masai Warrior 136 

Kikuyu Women and Baby 138 

Kikuyu War Party 142 

Kikuyu 144 

14 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Kikuyu 146 

The Swahili Camp Barber 146 

Kikuyu Women 148 ^^ 

Wart-hog 150 

As We Hunted in Laikipia 154 

Neumann's Hartebeest 157 

Jackson's Hartebeest 157 

Camp on the N'Gari Rongee 158 

An Oryx Beisa Shot on Guaso Nyiro. An Apparently Intermediate Type 160 

Zebra Shot on Guaso Nyiro 160 

Breaking Camp 162 

First Camp, Guaso Nyiro 162 

Kikuyu Men 164 

Camp in Bush Country 164 

Beisa Oryx 169 

First Camp, Pesi Swamp 170 

Camp on the Plains of Laikipia with Mt. Kenia in the Distance 170 

Defassa Waterbuck 173 

Jackson Hartebeest Shot on Sugari River 174 

Defassa Waterbuck 174 

Rhino Shot at Pesi Swamp 176" 

Rhino and Gun Bearers 178' 

Safari on the March 184 

The High Rolling Country of Laikipia 184 

Cheetah 188 

Hyena 188 

Ali Mirra, Baccari and Porters on Plains of Laikipia 192 

Our Cook, Warfu Yusof, and His Helper 196 

Near the Sugari River 196 

A Fine Impalla 198 

One of our Camps on the Sugari 202 

Mrs. Madeira and Mr. Williams with Lioness Shot on Sugari River. . . . 210 

Grant's Gazelle 214 

Bringing the Lioness Into Camp 214 

Lioness 218 

Dikdik 222 

Oribi 222 

Dikdik Shot on Guaso Nyiro 226 

Somali Giraffe 226 

Somali Giraffe 228 

Euphorbias of All Shapes and Sizes from Vines to Huge Trees, Guaso 

Nyiro 232 

Wandorobo Village Near Guaso Nyiro Surrounded with Euphorbia 

Thicket 232 

15 



ILLUSTRATIONS 







Near Thomson's Falls, Guaso Narok 240 

The Heart of an Elephant Forest 250 

Our Last March Into Nakuru 250 

Zebra 256 

Spotted Hyena 256 

On the Steps of the Dak Bungalow at Muhoroni 262 

Leopard Shot at Muhoroni 268 

Roan Antelope Shot at Muhoroni 268 

Leopard 275 

Roan Antelope 277 

Return with Baccari from the Last Day's Hunt 280^ 

Topi 282 

Bohor Reedbuck 285 

Chanler's Reedbuck 285 

Mrs. Madeira and Lion Cub at Nairobi 286 

Nairobi Railroad Station. Leaving for Home 288 



16 



HUNTING 
IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

CHAPTER I 

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE HUNT 

The preparations for an African hunt seem rather 
comphcated to those unfamihar with such an undertak- 
ing, but in reahty so much of this hunting is done by 
Europeans, that matters have become systematized, and 
to-day all arrangements can be made with little or no 
difficulty. 

When, in the spring of 1907, I saw the possibility of 
making this hunting trip — a long-desired wish — I wrote 
to Rowland Ward, the naturalist-taxidermist, in Lon- 
don, inquiring where the best bag of African game had 
been secured that year. Being advised that it was from 
British East Africa, I made further inquiries from 
friends who had been there, and, following their advice, 
wrote to the Army & Navy Stores, in London, asking 
them to submit an estimate for the outfit for a three- 
months' trip for myself and wife. The outfit was to 
include everything that we should require, except our 
clothes, guns, ammunition, and heavy supplies, such as 
flour, sugar, salt, potatoes, etc., which could be procured 
in Africa. In reply, I received a hst that covered every 

2 17 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

necessity that could be anticipated on such a trip. The 
entire outfit was to be put up in boxes or packages, 
and the price quoted included delivery at Nairobi. 

iThe outfit was packed in twenty-five packages or 
boxes, and I have carefully prepared a list of the 
numerous articles they contained.* 

At the same time that I wrote to the Stores, I also 
communicated with Newland, Tarleton & Company, 
safari outfitters at Nairobi, and a month before I sailed 
I sent three cablegrams which started all the equip- 
ment moving, so that upon my arrival at Nairobi I was 
ready to leave within forty-eight hours. 

For weapons, I took from America an 8- and a 9- 
millimeter Mannlicher and a 12-bore, double-barrelled 
shotgun; and in London procured a double-barrelled 
.450 cordite express, and an 8-millimeter Mannlicher as 
an extra gun. The ammunition consisted of 250 
cartridges for the .450, of which 125 had solid steel 
and 125 had soft-nose bullets; 500 soft-nose bullets for 
each of the 8- and 9-millimeter Mannlichers, and 500 
No. 6 shotgun cartridges, all in brass shells, to prevent 
swelling from dampness. This supply I found more 
than I needed, and I disposed of the surplus in Nairobi 
when I left. 

I tried very hard to get Mrs. Madeira to shoot 
either birds or some of the small antelope, and for that 
purpose had taken a shotgun and a light rifle. She, how- 

* See Appendix, 
1^ 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE HUNT 

ever, resolutely declined, saying that she hated to see 
animals killed, except the dangerous ones, and through- 
out the entire trip she neither fired a shot nor carried 
a weapon of any kind, not even a small revolver. She 
made the entire journey armed with nothing but a 
riding whip, and as she almost invariably accompanied 
us on our hunting expeditions, hardly ever remaining 
in camp, she saw all the animals we encountered, and 
was in at the death of at least one of each variety, except 
the buffalo. Her experience the night she was lost gave 
her all the acquaintance with these that was desirable. 
She had nq fear of any of them, and accompanied us in 
eveiy one of our stalks until the last short distance, 
when she would sit quietly and watch the proceedings. 
Her experience in this way was most unique and 
interesting. 

At the present time outfitting firms in Africa will 
arrange to supply sportsmen with camp equipment, 
porters, food, etc., for one hundred pounds per month 
per man, the outfit comprising everything needful ex- 
cept ammunition, clothes, riding animals, and luxuries, 
such as champagne, etc. 

Our safari was directed by a Somali headman, with 
a native head porter under him. The wages of the head- 
man were seventy-five rupees per month, a rupee being 
about thirty-three cents in American currency. We 
started with two gun-bearers, a Somah at seventy-five 
and a second gun-bearer — a Swahili — at forty rupees 
per month; two tent boys, or personal attendants, one 

19 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

for Mrs. Madeira and one for me, at fifty rupees; a 
Somali cook at fifty rupees; and two syces for our 
riding animals at twenty rupees. All the Somalis spoke 
English more or less, some of them quite well. 

The wages of a good Swahili porter, who carries 
sixty pounds, are ten rupees per month, while men of 
inferior tribes, such as the Kikuyu, who are not so 
strong and can carry but forty pounds, receive but four 
rupees. To these wages is added their food, which in 
the case of a Somali consists of rice, tea, sugar, and 
*' ghee," the latter a sort of butter of which he is very 
fond, while the Swahili and other tribes receive as rations 
native beans or flour, whichever may be available in the 
country through which you are passing. The ordinary 
ration, or " posho," is two pounds of rice daily for a 
Somali, and one and a half pounds of flour for a 
Swahili, all of which is measured out in a " kibaba," or 
cup, holding about this quantity. This "posho " is usually 
issued every other day or so, under the direction of the 
headman, assisted by the askaris to keep order. We 
had three of these latter, their duties being practically 
those of policemen and soldiers of the caravan. On 
the march one is usually at the front, one at the middle, 
and one at the rear of the safari, their duty here being 
to help the porters lift the loads on their heads, to take 
care of stragglers, and to see that none of the men 
desert. The askaris are armed with rifles of ancient 
model and are supposed to protect the porters from 
attacks by wild beasts or other enemies, but I cannot 

20 







DlSKMbAUklNG AT MOMIIASA 




AN ADEN WATER CART 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE HUNT 

believe that either as marksmen or in any other way 
they would be dangerous to anything or any one outside 
the caravan. Personally, I should rather be in front 
of their guns than behind them. In camp they keep 
order and administer to unruly porters any punishment 
that may be necessary; and also keep watch at night 
and tend the fires, taking turn-about from dark until 
daylight. They are usually Swahilis or Sudanese, and 
often have seen service in the King's African Rifles. As 
they are supposedly more intelligent than the porters, 
they receive a few rupees per month higher wages. 

When we left Nairobi our safari consisted of about 
forty porters, which number was gradually increased 
as we proceeded on our march, until at the end it 
numbered seventy-five, and these had boys, or " totos," 
as they are called, under them as sub-porters to the 
number of about twenty-five. These Httle " totos " 
arouse one's sympathy keenly. They are usually boys 
that loaf about Nairobi or Mombasa without any kith, 
kin, or anyone to look after them or take an interest 
in their welfare. When they are offered the opportunity 
to go on a safari, where they are certain of being fed, 
they are glad to accept, in spite of the hardships and 
small pay — about one rupee a month. They are about 
the size of white boys of the age of ten or twelve, and 
each is supposed to wait upon from three to five porters, 
carrying their odds and ends on the march and cooking 
their food. They are often dreadfully imposed upon 
by their employers, and are, in fact, practically slaves. 

21 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Our porters represented a variety of tribes, Swahili, 
Kikuyu, Wakamba, Uganda, Masai, etc., and the 
representatives of each tribe had their own particular 
tent and their own mess, so that they kept much to them- 
selves. It is well to have a variety of tribes represented 
in one's safari, for it tends to prevent desertion. One 
tribe keeps watch upon the other, for each desertion 
adds to the load of the remaining porters; therefore, 
they constantly act as police upon each other. We had 
very few desertions on our expedition. 

Our outfit, which was shipped from London, was 
taken charge of by Messrs. Newland, Tarleton & Com- 
pany from the time it was taken off the ship until it 
arrived at their storehouse at Nairobi. 

When w^e started the safari on the first march all 
the packages were in the original form in which they 
left London, complete in eveiy detail. The outfit was 
spread out in a long line, and the porters were then 
marshalled in single file, each being allotted to his load. 
The most careful and intelligent were entrusted with 
the more valuable packages, such as our personal equip- 
ment, guns, etc. Each stood alongside his package until 
the headman blew a whistle, when, with great shouts 
and much laughter and merriment, each put his load 
on top of his head, and the whole safari started off at 
a pace that was almost a run. Gradually they settled 
down in single file to a good, fast walk. 

I should say here that over fair country the caravan 
usually travelled at from two and three-quarters to 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE HUNT 

three miles an hour. We kept an account of the time 
required to go from one point to another, and though 
of course progress was dependent upon the condition 
of the road a fairly accurate estimate of the distances 
travelled can thus be computed. The various points 
we came to, the dates of arrival, and the time required 
to get there, will all be found in the Appendix. 

Mrs. Madeira and I each had a riding mule which 
we used when on the march and sometimes in hunting. 
They are small animals, but strong and sturdy, and are 
easier to take care of in the way of feeding than ponies. 
They are also more immune from the tsetse fly, which 
in some districts prevents the use of horses. The latter, 
however, are preferable to mules in lion hunting. Had 
we been mounted on ponies, we should probably have 
secured six or seven lions that escaped us, for with mules 
we were unable to ride them down as we could have 
done had we been better mounted. 

The price of live stock varies considerably in this 
part of Africa, mules costing from four hundred to 
five hundred rupees each, and ponies from six hundred 
to nine hundred. Both mules and ponies are brought 
down from Abyssinia, and although quite small, they 
have wonderful endurance. 

Our clothing consisted of khaki for daytime, with 
warmer clothes for night, when sitting around the camp, 
for after the sun disappears a great chill settles down, 
making \^dnter clothing and a good fire most essential. 

During the daytime we wore pith helmets, although 

23 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

sometimes in the early morning and in the late after- 
noon, when the sun was not at its maximum, a double 
terai felt hat was substituted. The latter is far more 
comfortable than a helmet, and some men wear them 
altogether, but the helmet is generally considered safer. 

As an additional precaution, we wore sun-pads, 
heavy quilted strips, which covered the spine from the 
coUar to a little below the shoulders, for we were 
advised that the effect of the sun upon this point was 
just as deadly as upon the head. I do not know what 
maximum the thermometer might have reached in the 
sun, for I was afraid to leave it exposed when it rose 
above 150°, as beyond that point there was danger of 
breaking. In the shade the thermometer would usually 
be from 85° to 100°, but there was always a breeze 
blowing, and the dryness of the air cooled one off quite 
rapidly as soon as one got out of the sun. 

It was always cold in the morning when we started 
out before daylight, and we were usually shivering for 
a few minutes, prior to the sun's appearance. Day does 
not dawn in equatorial Africa; it bursts! It is dark 
one minute and full sunlight the next, and the reverse 
occurs in the evening, for the sun goes down and night 
comes on as if a curtain had suddenly been pulled down 
over the west, and the chill of night begins instantly. 

I was surprised to find that bathing in the middle 
of the day in some of the delightful rivers that we saw 
was absolutely tabooed by all authorities on African 
travel, and our baths were taken late in the evening, and 

.24 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE HUNT 

always with hot and not cold water. We were warned 
about tliis by everybody, and followed the custom with 
remarkable success, so far as our health was concerned. 
All drinking water was filtered and boiled, regard- 
less of how clear and attractive the stream looked, or 
how unattractive the puddle from which we were some- 
times forced to secure the very dreadful fluid that we 
drank. This precaution, no doubt, had much to do with 
the fact that during the entire time we were in Africa 
neither Mrs. Madeira nor I had to take quinine or any 
other kind of medicine, and we were free from any 
touch of fever until we were on the Indian Ocean, 
on our way home, when we both suffered from quite an 
acute attack. 



CHAPTER II 

MOMBASA, THE UGANDA RAILROAD AND NAIROBI 

We left Naples on the steamship Burgomeister, of 
the German East Africa Line, on Monday, November 
18, 1907, late in the afternoon, and arrived at Port Said 
on the 22d. We spent several hours at this interesting 
town, then late at night entered the canal, when the ship 
put out its great search-light, which they all carry. 
During the night we were constantly passing vessels, 
and each time one of the ships tied up to the shore. 
Speed in going through the canal is limited to four miles 
an hour, and about twenty-four hours after leaving 
Port Said we reached Suez, and had our first taste of 
tropical heat. 

We spent four days on the Red Sea, getting a view 
of Mount Ararat, and finally reached Aden, one of the 
most unattractive places, and certainly the hottest, 
on earth. It is devoid of vegetation, for there is prac- 
tically no rainfall except once a year, and when this 
occurs the water is collected and stored by great dams 
in rocky gorges back of the town. From these reser- 
voirs it is supplied to the public in barrels, hauled by 
donkeys, camels, and big, Indian humped oxen, as well 
as in goatskins carried on the backs of men. 

We here encountered representatives of almost all 
the Oriental races, as well as great numbers of Somalis, 

«@6 



MOMBASA, THE UGANDA R. R. AND NAIROBI 

most of the latter presenting " chits," or letters with 
alleged recommendations from former employers, 
mostly British officers. Some of them had been en- 
gaged beforehand as gun-bearers by fellow passengers. 

We approached the island on which Mombasa is 
situated at sunrise on December 4, and encountered a 
most beautiful view. Our ship was too large to go into 
the Mombasa Harbor proper, so we entered that of 
Kilindini, which is the deep-water port and hes at the 
back of the island. As we drew near, one of the first 
things which attracted our attention was an old fort 
built some three hundred years ago, and which had been 
the scene of conflict from that time until the British 
took possession of it, by treaty with the Sultan of 
Zanzibar, about ten years ago. The fort is still in 
good condition, and is used as a prison. One sees 
adjacent to it modern English country buildings and 
bungalows, and old Portuguese and Arabian houses, the 
gleaming colors of the latter standing out in high relief 
against the dark, tropical vegetation of palms and 
banana trees, and all the feathery vegetation that 
renders this harbor so beautiful. 

As we got closer the colors of the flowers commenced 
to be noticed in brilliant splashes. We saw huge trees 
covered with blossoms like the azaleas that one sees for 
sale in the florist's shop at Easter. The eff'ect of these 
enormous trees in full-bloom is magnificent. The 
bougainvillea vine grows here profusely, and is covered 
^vith purple flowers like clematis, but instead of the vine 

37 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

being of the ordinary size, such as we see at home, it 
here attains gigantic proportions, with the flowers cover- 
ing it so that you barely see the leaves. With its 
luxuriant, flowering trees and vines, Mombasa is one 
of the most beautiful tropical harbors in the world. 

Our anchor was dropped close to a civilized-look- 
ing wharf and a custom-house of corrugated iron in 
the Kilindini Harbor, and we disembarked from the 
ship and were rowed ashore by half-naked, sturdy- 
looking Swahilis, in boats that had about six oars each, 
and a wild, excited lot of boatmen they were. The 
baggage was brought ashore in the same way, and the 
custom-house inspection was very hght and gave no 
trouble. 

The heat here was terrific, and it was so damp and 
sticky that we got away from the water as quickly as 
possible. After a short walk along the shore, we 
climbed up a pathway between some wonderful flowers, 
and at the top of the ascent we found a toy-railroad, 
with tracks about two feet wide and 12 lb. rails, which 
constituted the Mombasa trolley, or garry tracks. The 
car consists of a small platform about five feet square, 
on which is erected a seat, covered by an awning. The 
motive power is supplied by two natives, who run at 
the back of the car and push it along. It is reminiscent 
of the hand-car one sees on our railroads at home. 
Whenever there is a dowTi-grade, the human motors 
hop on the back and coast with the car, and the speed 
with which they get you over the ground by this means 

28 



MOMBASA, THE UGANDA R. R. AND NAIROBI 

of propulsion is remarkable. These little tracks run to 
all the principal houses and stores in town, and every- 
body of importance owns his own private garry, and 
has liis garry boys decorated with his colors in fancy 
turbans and sashes over their white gowns. 

There is a broad highway running from the dock 
at Kilindini into the main town at Mombasa, and here 
we got our first ghmpse of the real African men and 
women. The latter were all dressed in highly colored 
checked or striped sheeting arrangements, which they 
managed in some way or other to drape securely around 
them, so that only their arms, the upper part of their 
necks, and the legs from the knees down were exposed. 
Many of them were covered with native jewelry, mostly 
brass, steel and copper wire, and some few of them 
carried plain, ordinary umbrellas. 

The men w^ere strong and sturdy-looking and be- 
longed to the Swahili race. It is surprising to see the 
enormous loads they can carry, and the amount of work 
they can accomplish in unloading the huge pack- 
ages and boxes that are brought by the lighters from 
the Kilindini Harbor around to the Mombasa custom- 
house. Ail unloading and transportation is done by 
these Swahili workmen, the tsetse fly preventing the 
use of horses. When at w^ork they wear notliing but 
a small bit of cloth tied around the loins, and their 
perspiring bodies shine like ebony as they move the 
heavy packages and boxes which they carry on their 
heads. 

29 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Immediately upon arriving at Mombasa we went to 
one of the two so-called hotels, both of which are so 
bad that, whichever you select, j^ou are sure that you 
have chosen the worse. The inspection of our rooms 
was most discouraging; they were so dirty and unin- 
viting. After having our baggage taken to the rooms, 
we took a garry and proceeded to call upon the District 
Commissioner, JNIr. Hinde, to whom we presented a 
letter of introduction. Upon telling him that we also 
had a letter to the Governor General, Sir James Hayes 
Sadler, from the Colonial Secretary in London, he 
advised our losing no time in presenting it, as there 
were a great many influential passengers on the ship, 
therefore he thought we had better be among the first 
to call and pay our respects. This we did at once, and 
after a very pleasant reception, we were delighted by 
receiving an invitation to stay at the Government 
House, and it took us but little time to accept the 
same and have our baggage moved over. 

We had a most enjoyable visit for the two days that 
we remained here. There were guests at each meal, 
and we met a number of prominent officials and 
attractive people. The wilderness is so close to civiliza- 
tion here that while sitting at dinner, we could hear the 
hyenas in the distance. 

Our time in Mombasa was spent in getting our 
goods finally through the custom-house inspection, 
preparatory to departure for Nairobi, and considerable 
running around was necessary. The heat and power of 

m 



MOMBASA, THE UGANDA R. R. AND NAIROBI 

the sun here gave us our first experience of what we 
had been led to expect in Africa. While the ther- 
mometer was only about 90° in the shade, the humidity- 
was terrific. It was like one of our dreadfully hot July 
days at home, when everybody is in a continual state 
of dampness, and you can get neither air nor relief 
from the heat unless you sit perfectly still, by which 
means in Africa one can be comparatively comfortable. 

Mombasa used to be the slave port for eastern 
Africa, the poor wretches being brought down from 
Uganda and even farther away. Many a sad story 
could be told about the pitiful traffic which centred here, 
and which, fortunately, has now been done away with. 
Mombasa's trade is now largely devoted to the export 
of ivory, hides, copra, and other native products, and is 
growing rapidly, as the railroad has opened up the in- 
terior of the country to a development that bids fair 
before long to make it a paying investment, and the 
port one of even greater importance than it is at the 
present time. 

While here, the Governor General introduced us to 
the Lieutenant Governor, F. J. Jackson, one of the 
most loved men in the Protectorate. Twenty-five years' 
residence has qualified him as one of the most widely- 
known naturalists on African fauna, and liis knowledge 
of all the animals and their habitat is most thorough. 
He gave us a very kind reception, and took the trouble 
to discuss our trip with us and advise where it should 
be made. A letter from Mr. Hornaday, of the ISTew 

31 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

York Zoological Society, and others which I presented, 
obtained from Mr. Jackson, who has charge of this 
detail, permission to shoot an extra buffalo and giraffe 
for the National Collection of Heads and Horns in 
New York. He also planned for us the beginning of 
our shooting trip in the Embo District, which I was 
informed had not for some years been shot over by white 
men, having been " closed territory " as a game pre- 
serve, and the first permit that was issued was to us. 

On December 6, at noon, we took the train for 
Nairobi, although my ammunition had not arrived, and 
it evidently was not on the Burgomeister^ in spite of the 
cabled assurances which I had received en route, at 
Aden and Port Said, from a prominent gun-maker on 
Bond Street in London, who had guaranteed to have it 
on board my boat. 

The train which transported us was drawn by a 
Baldwin locomotive, made in Philadelphia, and the cars 
were similar to those used in India, di^dded off into 
passenger compartments of first, second, and third class, 
with wide windows and heavy, latticed shades extending 
down the side to keep out all rain except a horizontal 
one. The glass of the windows was clouded either a 
pale brown or smoke-color, in order to protect the eyes 
from the glare from which one would suffer in crossing 
the brilliantly lighted plains. Nothing is supplied 
for the passengers' comfort on these cars, and one has 
to take one's own bedding and food supplies. 

As soon as we left Mombasa and had crossed the 

32 



MOMBASA, THE UGANDA R. R. AND NAIROBI 

bay on the causeway, over which the railroad runs, the 
train ascended quite a steep grade, and we passed 
through various stages of vegetation, commencing with 
the most extremely tropical, and then gradually 
through banana, palm, and mimosa trees, etc., until 
we reached an altitude of about three or four thousand 
feet, when everything was changed. 

As we gradually ascended the hills lying on the 
coast, we passed various villages of natives. These con- 
sisted of huts which looked like hayricks, six to eight 
feet high, with a small opening in one side for a door- 
way. Surrounding them occasionally would be seen 
cocoanut and banana trees, but apparently no attempt 
was made to cultivate the land, at least, so far as was 
visible from the car window. The station houses were 
of corrugated iron, and looked as if they had been 
dropped here and there beside the track for no particular 
reason, for there appeared to be no traffic that would 
require stations at the points where they were located. 
Whenever we stopped, however, natives appeared from 
somewhere and thronged around the car, gazing curi- 
ously at the passengers and chattering like magpies 
with the blacks who were travelling third-class on the 
train, of wliich there were a great number. Judging 
from the noise of the conversation, the return of one 
of their friends from an expedition to the coast occa- 
sioned the wildest excitement. 

The railroad, I beheve, partly follows the old cara- 
van route that led to Victoria Nyanza, and Mr. Jackson, 

3 33 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Mr. Hobley, Mr. Tompkins, and a number of Govern- 
ment officials whom we met, and who had been residents 
there for years, had many a time travelled that long 
and trying journey on foot, when it used to take nearly 
three months to get to Uganda. While travelling on 
the Uganda Railroad is not an unmixed luxury, in 
comparison with former journeys it must seem wonder- 
ful to both the natives and the Europeans. 

We encountered the old route of the caravan farther 
up in the country near Victoria Nyanza, and it brought 
back thoughts of the poor black wretches who had 
travelled it in chains in years gone by. It is probable 
that the same route has been used from time 
immemorial. 

During the night our train reached an altitude of 
from five to six thousand feet, and it became quite cold. 
Two blankets were not too much covering. 

When daylight came the following morning we 
looked out of the windows and saw the realization of 
the stories that are told about the abundance of game 
in this part of Africa. From dawn until we arrived 
at Nairobi that noon we were never out of sight of 
herds of animals. In fact, there were continuous herds 
on both sides of the railroad, covering the plains as 
far as the eye could reach. We saw a rhino, some 
giraffe, thousands of zebra. Coke's hartebeest, Grant's 
gazelle, Thomson's gazelle, wildebeest, and here 
and there a steinbuck, or duiker. There were also 
large numbers of ostriches. These animals were not 

*34 





^ 



a.' ' « 







^ 



MOMBASA, THE UGANDA R. R. AND NAIROBI 

far from the railroad, — in fact, many of them were 
within less than one hundred yards — and they would 
merely move off a short distance as the train went by, 
and then stand and resume their feeding. I learned 
that the passengers on the train preceding ours had seen 
four lions — not an unusual sight here. The whole trip 
is a marvelous one, through the greatest zoological 
garden that can be imagined. 

The territory on either side of the railroad, for a 
half mile to the north and as far south as the German 
border, is held as a game preserve, or refuge, and the 
vast herds of animals seem to realize their immunity and 
safety from pursuit there. This preserve was made to 
prevent shooting from the train, which in the early 
days of the railroad was a reprehensible and cruel pas- 
time, as the wounded animals could not be put out of 
their misery, and those that were killed were not re- 
covered, but left on the plains for hyenas and vultures, 
which serve as the graveyards of Africa for both 
animals and natives. 

All day long we were travelling through a thick 
cloud of red dust that penetrated clothes and even the 
pores of the skin. When we reached our destination 
we were as red as American Indians. 

We were met at the station by members of the firm 
of Newland, Tarleton & Company, and went directly 
to the Hotel Norfolk. During the afternoon we were 
called upon by our personal servants in a body. They 
were Ali Aden, headman; Ali Mirra, mj^ first gun- 

35 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

bearer; Baccari, second gun-bearer; Dheria Ahmud, 
Mrs. Madeira's tent boy; Mohammed Mohamet, my 
tent boy; Warfu Yusuf, cook; and two syces. All of 
them were Somalis except Baccari, who was a Swahili. 

The few days between our arrival and the 10th were 
occupied in attending to odds and ends. I borrowed 
a rifle and some ammunition, and endeavored to get 
some ammunition for my own guns, but, much to my 
regret, I was unsuccessful, and did not receive it until 
sometime in January. We met a number of the resi- 
dents, and dined out in the evening, meeting most 
attractive people, and getting a great deal of informa- 
tion and advice about the conduct of our safari and 
where to hunt. 

Nairobi is far from being a beautiful town, as most 
of the buildings are of corrugated iron. On the hills 
surrounding it, however, where the residence portion is, 
handsome houses and bungalows have been constructed, 
and the life there must be most attractive, at least, 
from what we saw of it. They have a race-course, 
cricket and football fields, a tennis club with beautiful 
courts, and fair golf Unks, all of which are, of course, 
constantly used by the residents. The Englishman 
carries his sports wherever he goes, and even in the 
most distant forts we reached in our travels, if there 
were two white men there they always had a tennis 
court. 



CHAPTER III 

THE ATHI PLAINS AND MR. MCMILLAn's FARM 

On December 10, after a few pleasant days in 
■Nairobi, in which we completed our arrangements for 
the trip and spent some hours riding around in rick- 
shaws, we left at noon by train for Stony Athi River. 
On our arrival at the station, but an hour and a half 
after leaving Nairobi, we were met by the headman and 
our personal servants, having sent the safari by road 
the day before. We found the camp all made, about 
three hundred yards from the station, and everything 
prepared for us. The camp consisted of our green 
canvas Willesden tent, with a heavy fly over it and an 
extension at the back in the shape of a bow-window, 
made of canvas, which formed the bathroom. The entire 
floor of the tent was covered by a sheet of canvas, in 
order to keep out bugs and dampness. The furniture 
consisted of two folding-beds (which were supplied 
with cork mattresses, sheets, pillow-cases, and good, 
heavy Jaeger blankets), two collapsible tables, a col- 
lapsible wash-stand and bath-tub, two chairs, and a 
couple of camp stools. 

Our clothes were in tin boxes which were damp 
proof and insect proof, and which weighed when loaded 
from fifty to sixty pounds. These boxes came through 
the entire trip without mishap, preventing all trouble 

37 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

with ants and dampness, and keeping our clothes always 
in good condition. 

The porters had six small tents which were arranged 
in a semicircle, facing our tent, and the Somalis had 
a tent on one side not far from ours. We were thor- 
oughly comfortable in our movable house, which we 
occupied for the next hundred days, and never saw the 
railroad again until the end of the trip. 

The Stony Athi River, like a narrow ribbon, fringed 
with bushes and trees, trailed away like a thin snake, far 
to the north. On either side it was bounded by vast 
plains unbroken in any direction, except to the east 
where far away on the horizon appeared some low-lying 
hills. With the exception of the green along the line 
of the river, everything was brown, monotonous and 
without character. What grass there was looked so 
thin and hay-like in its color, that it seemed difficult to 
realize that this was the favorite grazing place of the 
vast herds of animals frequenting this section. The 
low waving blue line that broke the horizon to the East 
was so far away and the irregularities were so small, 
that I could not estimate the distance. 

Had the day been clear, away to the north the 
snow-capped peak of Mt. Kenia m»ight have been seen, 
as some days we did see it, rising to the height of 
18,000 feet. 

The Equator passes directly through this mountain 
which, in spite of the terrific heat occasioned by the 
direct rays of the sun, is covered with a huge cap of 

38 



ATHI PLAINS— MR. McMILLAN'S FARM 

perpetual snow which, melting, feeds the rivers and so 
renders the surrounding country habitable. Without 
the snow to support them, the evaporation is so great 
that, except in the rainy season, the rivers would dry up 
and leave the whole region waterless. 

The only brilliant green visible was furnished by 
some rushes that grew in a swampy bit of ground 
near the railroad tracks, and the vividness of this patch 
of color contrasted greatly with the pallid green of the 
trees, and the dull, uniform brown of all the rest of the 
landscape. On these bare plains, from out a brilliant 
blue sky, blazed the tropical sun, its rays so strong that 
you could feel them on your hands as if the latter were 
being held towards a fire, and the glare and vibration 
of heat made one unconsciously protect the eyes as much 
as possible by pulhng the visor of the helmet far over 
them. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon, I started out 
with my gun-bearers for my first day's hunt, and we 
saw all over the plains innumerable bands of Coke's 
hartebeest, zebra. Grant's gazelle, and Thomson's 
gazelle. I proceeded to stalk a hartebeest, and found 
it was extremely wide-awake and difficult to approach, 
especially as the Athi Plains at this time were devoid 
of covering and the grass was not more than one or 
two inches high. I found it considerable labor to crawl 
for a long distance on my hands and knees, but finally 
succeeded in getting a shot, and hit the hartebeest, but, 
imfortunately, not fatally. I was astonished, as ever 

39 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

afterwards in Africa, at the tremendous vitality all 
the animals have. I must have pursued this badly 
wounded creature for two hours before I finally got 
him. Late in the afternoon I killed a zebra, which at 
the first shot dashed off about twenty yards, turned a 
complete somersault, and fell stone dead. 

The herds of animals on the Athi Plains, as indeed 
elsewhere, usually consisted of from five to twenty- 
five, sometimes more, and occasionally only a solitary 
animal. The Coke's haa-tebeest, which is here in 
thousands, is a queer, ungainly looking creature, with 
a curious, long face. The color is a bright reddish 
fawn all over, with the tail long and a black tuft of 
hair at the end. They stand about forty-eight inches 
high at the shoulder, and weigh in the neighborhood of 
three hundred pounds. They are very low at the hind 
quarters and high at the withers, so that the slope is 
almost straight from the top of the head to the tail. 
They run with straight, stiff-legged bounds, and get 
over the ground at an astonishing rate of speed. With 
all their ungainly ways, they are difficult to stalk, 
being extremely wary, and having sight that seems to 
detect the slightest movement on the plains, no matter 
how far off. They often apparently do sentry duty 
for zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles, for these seem con- 
fident of safety when a hartebeest is feeding with them. 
There are numerous varieties of hartebeests all over 
Africa, of which, however, we encountered only three, 
the Coke's, which exists here, south of the Tana; and 

40 



n 



- ^. 
I a 







5- c 
I td 






ATHI PLAINS— MR. McMILLAN'S FARM 

Jackson's and the Neumann's, which we encountered 
after we had crossed that river and gotten farther to 
the west and north. 

The next few days we spent on the Athi Plains, 
securing specimens of hartebeest, zebra. Grant's and 
Thomson's gazelles, and, incidentally, a small silver 
jackal. All these animals — except the jackal — were in 
constant evidence wherever one looked, but were ex- 
tremely wary and difficult to approach, for no matter 
in which direction you hunted there seemed always a 
band on the other side watching you and ready to give 
the alarm. It was hard work and long-range shooting, 
but I managed to secure specimens of the above 
varieties. 

The little Tommies (Thomson's gazelle), which are 
very much like the Grant's, except in size, were 
often at a distance difficult to distinguish from the 
latter larger variety, but if close enough could generally 
be told by the constant twitching of their tails. The 
persistency of this nervous twitching is remarkable, for 
I never saw one of them whose tail was still for a 
second, and I do not recall that the Grant has this pecu- 
liarity. The markings of both animals are very similar. 
The Thomson has a black nose patch and a wide band 
on the flank, while the prevailing color is a deep sandy 
reddish, and all the markings are well developed and 
very sharp. There is a narrow band of black bordering 
the white on the sides of the rump, and knee tufts are 
developed. The horns are quite long for the size of the 

41 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

animal, wliich stands about twenty-five inches at the 
shoulder, and weighs about fifty-five pounds. 

The Grant's gazelle stands about thirty-four inches 
high, with markings similar to the Thomson, except that 
the dark band on the side is not so deep in color and 
so distinct. There is more white, and a paler color 
towards the rump, than in the Thomson. The horns 
are extremely long proportionately, vary in shape con- 
siderably and the Grant's are in head and horns the 
handsomest and most imposing of all the African 
gazelles. The hair on parts of the body has a peculiar 
wavy, rumpled look. It weighs about one hundred and 
fifty to one hundred and sixty pounds. There are 
several varieties of the Grant, and the habitat of this 
and the Thomson is very wide, extending almost 
throughout the country, although we encountered none 
between the Tana River and Fort Hall. 

The zebra on the Athi Plains is Chapman's zebra, a 
sub-species of the Burchell, and is different from that 
which we encountered in Laikipia. Those on the Athi 
Plains are not so brilliant in black and white, the stripes 
on the face are broader, and they have a wider stripe 
down the centre of the backbone than the larger variety 
which we encountered later on near the Guaso Nyiro. 

While travelling on the Athi Plains we were driven 
nearly crazy by ticks, which covered every blade of 
grass and made life a burden until we apphed a prepa- 
ration of cosmoline and a drug which I had procured 




GRANT S GAZELLE 

(Gazelia graiifi) 



ATHI PLAINS— MR. McMILLAN'S FARM 

at Nairobi, by means of which we subsequently avoided 
any discomfort. • 

It was always quite cool at night on the Athi 
Plains, and not, relatively, very uncomfortable in the 
daytime, although here, as all through Africa, the power 
of the sun is beyond descrijition. We heard lions almost 
every night, and the thrill of excitement on hearing 
for the first time a wild lion roaming near you is 
memorable. The altitude of our camp here was about 
six thousand feet. 

The Somalis and the natives always speak of an 
animal that is making a noise as " shouting," and it 
is amusing to hear them say a lion, a bird, a leopard, or 
a rhinoceros is " shouting." Thus we heard lions 
" shouting " nightly. 

We had no particular excitement on the plains ex- 
cept once when, after shooting a hartebeest and 
approaching him, a cow rhino hove in sight on the 
crest of a little rise a couple of hundred yards away, 
evidently aroused by the sound of my rifle shot, and 
looking for trouble. I cannot describe the feeling upon 
first seeing the curious brute in wild life, and I am 
quite willing to confess my heart came very close to 
my mouth, and I could hardly believe that a little .450 
bullet would have any effect upon its gigantic body. 
The radiation of heat from the ground magnified its 
size as it ran forward and backward on the skyline with 
its funny little tail straight up in the air, rigid as a 
flag-pole, and its queer, misshapen head bending in 

43 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

every direction in the effort to locate by sight and 
smell the cause of the disturbance. We had both of 
us gone quite close to the hartebeest when it fell, and 
I was photographing it when there was a shout from 
the porters of " Farul Faru! " (" Rhino "), and then 
a helter-skelter flying of every one of the black boys 
and entire absence of interest on their part in the 
hartebeest. As there was no cover or bush in sight on 
these bare plains, we withdrew to a safe distance, being 
quite anxious to avoid an encounter here. The rhino 
was not worth killing, but was quite big enough and 
evidently ugly enough to make things unpleasant, and 
we therefore waited until she had disappeared over the 
ridge, when we recovered the dead hartebeest. 

We made several camps along the Stony Athi, 
hunting especially for lions, but saw none, though these 
plains are celebrated for them. We heard of four that 
had been seen by some fellow-sportsmen not far from 
where we were, but although we took up the search we 
could not find them. In the hills bounding the plains 
there are several districts where there are large caves 
occupied by lions, one of these dens being especially 
famous. There is a broken mass of rock honeycombed 
underneath with caves and passageways, some of which 
come out to the surface on the top of the hill, while 
others extend to the back of the hill, and the place is 
usually occupied by several lions. It is a creepy sort 
of place, and gives you the exact mental picture that you 
have of a lion's den. The entrances are closed with 

44 



is.! 



J^'- 



ATHI PLAINS— MR. McMILLAN'S FARM 

brush and small scrub, and from the top once in a while 
you find a place where you can look down into a dark 
hole or cavern fifteen or twenty feet below. While I, 
personally, did not hear any lions in the caves, friends 
of mine have seen them and shot them there, and we 
saw innumerable bones and other evidences of their 
occupancy. The method of hunting is to watch on the 
edge of the rocks for the lion either when he is going 
out in the afternoon or coming home in the morning. 
A short time before I got there, however, a very persist- 
ent hunt had been made for the beasts, and I think that 
they must have been driven off at that time. 

We reached Mr. McMillan's famous Juja Farm on 
Sunday morning, the 15th of December, and his very 
delightful hospitality detained us there until the 21st. 
This farm is one of the most remarkable places imagin- 
able. Every luxury that Europe and America could 
devise is there: a fine, comfortable bungalow supplied 
with ice-plant, electric lights, and everything else that 
one could think of. Within a half-mile of the house 
wild animals in droves wander all over the unfenced 
plain. It is one of the best places to get wildebeest and 
Chanler's reedbuck, and there are also leopards, lions, 
hippos, crocodiles, hartebeests. Grant's and Thomson's 
gazelles, wart-hogs, etc., and these, as I have said, with- 
in a few miles of the house, some of them, in fact, 
within a few hundred yards. Here we got our mail 
which had been forwarded to us from Nairobi. We met 
a number of people who were staying at the house, 

45 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

among them two young Frenchmen on their way to 
climb Mount Elgon. They were having considerable 
excitement and amusement by trying to catch crocodiles 
in the river, about three hundred yards from Mr. 
McMillan's house. During one of their nightly visits 
to the snare which they had set in the river, they almost 
walked on top of a leopard, which gave them quite a 
start, for a leopard is a dangerous beast to encounter, 
especially when prowhng around in the dark. 

The next day I started out to get some wildebeest,* 
wliich are to be had here and are very rare farther 
north. They are curious looking animals, about four 
feet three inches at the shoulder, of a bluish-gray color, 
with a stiff mane, and a dirty white beard underneath 
their chin. A huge mop of black hair extends down 
the centre of the face. Their horns remind one of a 
cow's, although thej^ come close together in the centre 
of the head and droop downwards instead of curving 
up. They are clumsy, awkward, and stupid-looking, 
with eyes so prominent on the sides of their heads that 
apparentlj^ they can almost look backwards without 
turning their heads. They weigh about five hundred 
and fifty pounds. As their name implies, they are ex- 
tremely wild, and travel in bands of from five to twenty- 
five, though occasionally one encounters a solitary old 
bull. They usuallj^ have a hartebeest sentinel some- 
where near them, and, owing to the watchfulness of both 
species, they are extremely difficult animals to approach. 

* The white-bearded, brindled gnu. 
46 




IMPALLA 

(.Epyceros inelamjms) 



ATHI PLAINS— MR. McMILLAN'S FARM 

We started early, and about an hour's journey from 
the house we sighted a herd of them. Forthwith began 
a stalk on hands and knees over the bare plains. Tliis 
took at least an hour or an hour and a half, before I 
finally succeeded in shooting the bull. Later on another 
successful stalk brought down a second, but I regret to 
say it was an enormous cow which I had mistaken for 
a bull. During the morning's hunting I missed an 
impalla and a waterbuck. We saw many species of 
game, before returning about three o'clock in the 
afternoon. We measured the wildebeest and found 
him quite a large one, the horns being twenty-seven and 
a quarter inches on the widest outside measurement, 
twenty-three and a quarter inches widest inside, and 
sixteen and three-quarters from tip to tip. The cow 
was also of a good size, with horns measuring twenty- 
one and a quarter inches and eighteen and three-eighths 
inches. 

On the 17th, accompanied by Mr. H. Clarkson 
Williams, a guest of Mr. IMcMillan, we started out in 
the morning and spent the entire daj" hunting. I 
secured an impalla, and, by an unlucky shot, missed 
a wildebeest. 

The impalla is one of the most beautiful 
animals in Africa, and I doubt if there is any more 
graceful animal in the world. The horns are very- 
long in proportion to the size of the animal, have a 
double curve, and are heavily ringed to within six to 
eight inches of the point. The color is Brilliant red 

47 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

and very glossy. It has no lateral hoofs, hke other 
members of the gazelle group, and has a tuft of black 
hair on each hind leg. It stands about thirty-three to 
thirty- four inches and weighs from one hundred to one 
hundred and fifteen pounds. We found them ranging 
over almost all the country that we went into except 
near Victoria Nyanza at Muhoroni. They usually 
travel in bands of from five to fifteen, and the largest 
I saw was sixty-nine. When shot at, the whole herd 
starts into a series of leaps and bounds, sometimes going 
as high as six feet in the air, and jumping clean over 
the backs of one another. They look like acrobats as 
they perform this wonderful and most characteristic 
exhibition of high leaping. They are usually found 
near water and in country where there is a considerable 
amount of cover. A whole band is difficult to stalk, 
and it is far better to go for a lone buck if one can be 
found. 

We saw hartebeest, several bands of impalla, 
Thomson's gazelle, wart-hogs, and baboons. We also 
got on the trail of a lion, which was so fresh that the 
paw-marks on the wet sand had not even dried. The 
spoor led to a dense thicket of papyrus ten or fifteen 
feet high, at the bottom of a gully, and mixed up with 
the papyrus was the thickest kind of vegetation, cover- 
ing a swamp which extended all around the side. It 
was a very unpleasant place to encounter the beast had 
it been moving around. 

Speaking of lions reminds me of Mr. McMillan's 

48 



ATHI PLAINS— MR. McMILLAN'S FARM 

head shikar, Djuma, a Somah, who is well known not 
only for his skill but for his courage. Some years ago 
Mr. C. W. L. Bulpett, a friend of Mr. McMillan, was 
hunting with him, I think in SomaHland. The former, 
who had not yet gotten his Hon, was aroused one morn- 
ing while in bed by the statement that there was one of 
these beasts in the bush near by. Without waiting to 
dress, he slipped on a pair of pumps, and still in his 
pajamas, grabbed his rifle, and calling to Djuma and a 
couple of others, started for the bush where the Hon 
had been located. They endeavored to drive the lion 
out by beating the bush, and finally tried to set fire to 
it, but it would not burn. Eventually Mr. Bulpett reck- 
lessly crawled in among the bushes on his hands and 
knees. He soon saw the lion not far from him, but in 
a bad position for a shot. He took the chance, however, 
and the lion immediately rushed him. In the scramble 
to escape, the hunter fell, and the lion reached him and 
stood over him. Seeing this situation, Djuma rushed 
forward and attracted the attention of the lion, which 
turned toward him, opening liis mouth. The brave 
Somali was armed only with a revolver, but he thi-ust it 
into the lion's mouth, and succeeded in getting off two 
or three shots before the crush of the tremendous jaws, 
closing on his wrist, prevented any further use of the 
hand. The lion was stunned by these pistol shots down 
his throat, which enabled one of the other men accom- 
panying Mr. Bulpett to crawl up and put a bullet into 
the animal's brain, dropping him stone dead. 

4 49 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Mr. Bulpett escaped without a scratch, but Djuma's 
arm still shows the scars of the dreadful wounds it got 
when the lion's teeth closed on it. My own gun-bearer, 
Ali Mirra, had his own experience with a lion, which is 
another story. Instances of courage in the Somalis are 
frequent, but Djuma's is almost unparalleled. 

The vitality of lions is shown by the following inci- 
dent. Mr. McMillan, himself a wonderfully good 
marksman, one day got a good shot at a lion, and put liis 
bullet through both shoulders, breaking them. This is 
a shot which is supposed absolutely to cripple an animal 
and put him out of action. This particular lion, which 
was about seventy-five yards away, worked his hind legs 
up underneath him and, crouching as for a spring, 
finally launched himself into the air towards McMillan. 
The beast landed, of course, upon his chest and nose. 
This was such an astonishing proceeding that McMillan 
waited until the movement was again repeated, the lion 
by this means getting some ten or fifteen yards nearer. 
McMillan then started shooting, but it required several 
shots before the lion succumbed. From such a picture, 
one can appreciate the fierce, revengeful and terrible 
disposition that a wounded lion has, for every leap that 
he made must have caused him agony. 



CHAPTER IV 

A BUFFALO HUNT AT PUNDA MILLIA 

Williams accepted my invitation to go along as my 
guest on our hunt, and the following day he and I drove 
into Nairobi to get the necessary equipment for him, and 
more porters and supplies, for which we had arranged. 
The 19th was occupied in finishing up the necessary de- 
tails at Nairobi, and we arrived at Juja after a long 
and dusty drive, at six p.m., passing on our way one of 
Mr. Mc^Iillan's staff, who was driving home three 
ostriches as the nucleus of an ostrich farm. These huge 
birds at close quarters are most interesting. They were 
driven along like so many cows and kept in the middle 
of the road, walking with their long strut. They seemed 
as tame as any domestic bird that could be imagined. 

There had been quite a boom in ostrich farming 
in East Africa that year, owing to the protection 
afforded by the Government, which had struck these 
birds off the list of game to be shot, and was doing 
everything to encourage the development of the in- 
dustry. During our travels we often found settlers 
hunting for young ostriches and eggs in order to secure 
equipment to start in this business. In establishing an 
ostrich farm, several methods are employed. One, and 
apparently the most common, is by purchasing a few 
trained and tamed birds, and then sending black boys 

51 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

through the country to locate an ostrich hen sitting. 
When she has been located, a close watch is kept upon 
her nest until the chicks hatch out, and then the latter are 
rounded up and taken to the ranch, and are brought up 
and domesticated. Eggs are also picked up and taken 
back to the farm to be hatched either by the tame hens 
or by artificial means. Domesticated full-grown bu'ds 
are very valuable, and the loss of one is quite an item. 
We saw some very successful farms towai'ds Nakuro, 
where large areas have been fenced in, and the birds 
were apparently thriving and making a good profit for 
their owners. 

After packing up all our new supplies and re- 
organizing our safari, which had now been increased to 
sixty porters, we left Mr. McMillan's very hospitable 
farm on Saturday the 21st, on a march of fourteen miles 
to the Thika Falls. We hunted all the way, but saw 
nothing but the usual game, for which we did not care 
to Sttop, as we hoped for better specimens later on. 
The river near which our camp was situated was most 
beautiful, as the falls were quite high and the banks 
were overhung with large trees and fine vegetation. 
We were informed that sometimes the colibus monkey 
can be secured at this point, but we were not lucky 
enough to see one. 

The next day we made a short march of four 
miles in the direction of Fort Hall, camping near 
the road. Williams hunted on one side of the 
road, and I on the other. The result was a stein- 




CIIKKTAII 81H)T AT THIKA I ALUS 




WOMEN GRINDING GRAIN AT FORT HALL 



A BUFFALO HUNT AT PUNDA MILLIA 

buck for me, and a good sized cheetah for Williams. 
These latter animals are extremely shy and seldom en- 
countered, and it is considered quite a lucky addition 
to one's bag. The cheetah is very much like the com- 
mon leopard, excejit that its claws are not so retractile, 
being more like a dog's. The body is slender, and the 
legs longer than those of the leopard. Instead of hav- 
ing the black rosettes of the latter, he has solid black 
spots with no centre, and the main color is a pale reddish 
yellow. The head is small and somewhat dog-Hke in 
appearance. This one measured seventy-three and 
three-quarter inches from end of nose to tip of tail. 

On the 22d we made a march of ten miles to the 
ranch of Messrs. Swift and Rutherford at Punda 
Millia. One of the other guests, who was going to 
spend Christmas with them, was passing along the road 
on his bicycle a short distance back of us, when he saw 
two lions within one hundred and fifty yards of the 
highway, but, unfortunately, he had no rifle with him. 
This highv*^ay, after leaving Mr. McMillan's, is the main 
thoroughfare to Fort Hall, and on it one encounters all 
kinds of conveyances, from camels to pack trains of 
donkeys and native porters. One is never out of sight 
of people travelling this road, and yet lions are fre- 
quently seen. On the way to Punda Millia I shot an 
impalla and wounded it badly, but, too far back. It 
took me on a six-mile chase before I finally succeeded 
in killing him, during which time I saw wildebeest, 
hartebeest and Thomson's gazelle in numbers. 

53 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Mr. Swift and Mr. Rutherford gave us a very warm 
welcome, and our party was increased by a number of 
other guests who had come out from Nairobi for the 
holidays. 

At daybreak the next morning, Williams and I went 
out for Chanler's reedbuck, which is found here, as is 
also an occasional roan antelope. Having seen nothing 
up to nine o'clock, we separated and hunted in different 
directions. Within five minutes after parting, I heard 
Williams shooting, and learned later that after a hard 
hunt he had bagged a fine Chanler's reedbuck. He then 
got on the trail of a roan antelope, which he pursued 
all day, but could not get near enough for a shot. This 
Chanler's reedbuck was the only one we secured during 
our trip, for while I saw several bands of them they 
were all does, and I had but one shot at a buck at a very 
long range, which I missed. It takes a lot of hunting, 
and is quite a sporty little animal, being smaller than 
the bohor, and of a grayish color, with rather long hair 
on its neck and body. It frequents a more rocky 
country than the other reedbuck, of which there are a 
number of varieties. 

The country was very hilly and rolling, and covered 
with high grass, making it difficult to hunt in. Shortly 
before noon I encountered a rhinoceros coming my way, 
and hit him with both barrels of my .450, but did not 
stop him. He went off at a great pace, charging across 
just in front of me and not far away, leaving a trail 
of blood which we followed through the grass, here three 

• 54 



A BUFFALO HUNT AT PUNDA MILLIA 

to four feet high. We tracked him for a quarter of a 
mile or more, but finally some thick bush and then 
absence of grass helped lose the trail, and we never saw 
him again. While pursuing the rhino I saw some reed- 
buck and waterbuck. After stalking them within gun- 
shot, I found that they were all does, and therefore did 
not shoot. While we were hunting for the rhino's track 
one of my porters saw a leopard dash by within twenty 
yards of him, but I was on the other side of a slight rise, 
and did not see it. We beat up all the bush country 
around where he had been seen to enter, but wdthout 
success. 

On Christmas Day our hosts had kindly arranged 
with one of their natives, who was familiar with the 
country, to take me on a buffalo hunt, for which I 
started out accompanied by my gun-bearers and half 
a dozen porters. About three and a half miles from the 
camp on the far side of a deep ra^vine, we located, 
through the glasses, a herd of seven of these animals 
wandering around under some trees and apparently 
preparing to retire and lie down during the middle of 
the day, as is their custom. We left our porters on the 
high point, so that they could overlook the ravine and 
watch the movements of the herd. With my gun- 
bearers and guide, I descended the ravine, and, crossing 
to the other side, made a careful and exciting stalk. The 
grass was as high as our heads, and nothing could be 
seen in any direction without climbing some of the small 
scrub trees that were here numerous. Occasionally the 

55 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

grass would get thinner and so short that we could find 
our way and see a little ahead of us, but immediately 
would close up again and interfere with all vision. We 
stalked to where we were sure the buffalo had been 
heading when we last saw them, and presumed that they 
were hiding somewhere near. We soon struck their 
trail, at this point, but the native guide became panic- 
stricken and took to the tallest tree he could find, osten- 
sibly to locate the buffalo from his point of vantage, 
but I think he was more guided by fear than the desire 
to locate the game. He refused to advance, and at the 
same time he was afraid to go backward. My gun- 
bearer also tried to locate the animals by climbing trees, 
but was unsuccessful. 

After a number of fruitless attempts, we stole 
cautiously through the long grass, Jfirst on one 
side and then on the other. When we advanced 
in the direction of the ravine, we found, within 
twenty or thirty yards of where we had been hunting, 
the beds in which the buffalo had been lying down. We 
learned afterwards from our porters, who had been 
watching, that we had been surrounded by the beasts, 
which, however, had silently gotten up and left on hear- 
ing us, or on getting our scent. It gave us a creepy feel- 
ing to think how near we had been to them without 
knowing it, and to realize in what a helpless position 
we should have been had they taken it into their heads 
to charge and be as unpleasant as they usually are. 
However, they had sneaked off, and our hunt for them 
was over. 

56 




.... »Vf€» 






^ 







@i4i^<»«Mr»i 



i 



A BUFFALO HUNT AT PUNDA MILLIA 

The tall grass through which we had been working 
all that morning was of a most unpleasant character. 
It had long heads on it like rye, and each beard of the 
head bore a detachable seed shaped like a barbed arrow- 
head, very sharp and intensely irritating. These arrow- 
heads worked through my clothes and down my back, 
creating a condition which by the time we reached camp 
had developed into a state like prickly heat. Ever 
afterward this grass set up a similar irritation wherever 
it was of a height sufficient to get down the back of my 
neck. I regret to say that this was frequent, as this 
grass predominates in almost all sections we went 
through, but varies in height. 

I returned to camp quite early, and after luncheon 
went out after Coke's hartebeest, but failed to secure 
any, although they were plentiful. The rest of the 
party, armed with shotguns, went over to some millet 
fields, a couple of miles from the house, to have a bird- 
drive. The millet attracts great flocks of various kinds 
of birds, and the hunters were stationed along a line at 
a point agreed upon, and then the natives were sent into 
the millet to drive the birds out, something on the style 
of an English pheasant drive. The gunners were not 
very successful, however, securing only a few edible 
birds. 

We had a jolly, informal Christmas dinner that 
evening, with the best of hospitality and company, but 
it was so different from the day at home that it was 
hard to picture our cold and snowy Christmas in con- 

57 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

trast to this small cabin where we all contributed to the 
supplies and to the table, but everything went off well 
and we passed a delightful evening. 

The next day we broke camp at eight o'clock, and 
saying good-by to our friends, left for Fort Hall, 
fourteen miles away, where we arrived, after a hot 
and tiresome journey, at half past one. We immediately 
called upon Mr. Lane, the District Commissioner, to 
present our letter of introduction, but, unfortunately, he 
was ill with fever. Mr. Skene, the Assistant District 
Commissioner, did everything he could to help us in 
selecting the country in which we were to hunt, and gave 
us advice and assistance in securing our porters and 
supplies, including seventeen loads of meal. The 
Somalis had to be provided with ghee, sugar, and tea, 
in addition to their rice. 

There were large numbers of natives from up the 
country visiting here, as this is the junction point for 
travel coming from both the east and west sides of 
Kenia, and all the surrounding country is tributary to 
Fort Hall, the largest and most important of the Eng- 
lish Government forts. I was able to buy some native 
spears for one rupee four annas, each, and some other 
odds and ends of curios, which we left, with four of our 
chop boxes and some superfluous supplies, in the care of 
Mr. Skene. 

On the morning of the 28th we started for Embo, 
which is the farthest fort to the north and east at the 
present time, and hes in the district on the north side of 

58 



A BUFFALO HUNT AT PUNDA MILLIA 

the Tana River, and somewhat to the east of Mount 
Kenia. I was informed that shooting had been pro- 
hibited in this district in the past three or four years, on 
account of trouble with the natives, but this had been 
recently and satisfactorily adjusted, JMr. Jackson gave 
us the fii'st permit to go into that district, where he 
intimated we might be able to secure our elephant, the 
animals being quite plentiful on the slopes of Mount 
Kenia. 

When we left Fort Hall our outfit consisted of 
seventy-eight porters, each of whom ate one and a half 
pounds of beans or meal daily, while each of our twelve 
Somalis consumed two pounds of rice every day, so our 
supplies had to be quite heavy. 

The camp here was particularly aggravating, as the 
only place that we could find to pitch our tent was 
adjoining the drill-ground and close to the main road 
leading out of Fort Hall. This did not encourage dis- 
cipline among the porters, and it was impossible to get 
them straightened out and ready to leave before ten 
o'clock the following morning. 

At Fort Hall are stationed about two hundred 
native police under command of Captain Long-Innis, 
and the smartness which these natives acquire in their 
military drills after a few months' training is remark- 
able. They are wild, stupid savages when first enlisted, 
but a few weeks' training transforms them into smart, 
alert soldiers. 

At Nairobi they have a regimental band composed 

59 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

entirely of native blacks, who have been trained and 
taught in a few years to play the various instruments, 
and they play uncommonly well. The negro's love of 
music is apparently as instinctive and adaptable with 
him as it is with his more civilized brethren in our 
country. 

The non-commissioned officers of this police force 
are generally Sudanese, who have had training in the 
east or in Egypt, and they appear to be well drilled in 
their duties. The regular uniform of the company 
consists of a red fez, black sweater with leather pads 
on the shoulders, a pair of khaki knickerbockers cut off 
above the knees, and black puttees, but they wear no 
shoes. They are armed with rifles, and have belts and 
cartridge boxes of black leather. It is amusing to see 
the non-commissioned officers when not on duty. Armed 
with little swagger sticks, they strut around just as they 
have seen their officers do in the Sudan, and they even 
copy their particular officer's walk and mannerisms. 
We watched this company with considerable interest, 
little thinking how keen I should be to have their 
services at my command less than a month hence. 

About two hours after we left Fort Hall, we crossed 
the Tana River in a ferry-boat supported by the Gov- 
ernment, but the porters waded across the stream, which 
at that time was only up to their waists. We had lunch 
on the north side of the Tana, and while there met a 
number of Kikuyu on their way to and from Fort Hall, 
mostly dressed in their best get-up. I took some 

60 



A BUFFALO HUNT AT PUNDA MILLIA 

pictures, among them one of a rather interesting look- 
ing savage who posed with Mrs. Madeira. 

The country on this march was very hilly and rolling, 
and Fort Hall stands at an altitude of about six 
thousand two hundred feet. Embo has about the same 
altitude, but the intervening country, Hke that near 
Fort Hall, is much broken up and the hills are steep. 
The country is hot, with very few trees, and those quite 
small, except along the banks of the streams. It is the 
cultivated land of the Kikuyu race, and native farms 
are eveiywhere, these consisting of small patches of 
land which have been scratched over and planted. 
When we were there the harvests were well grown and 
the maize was standing head high. Wherever there was 
a Httle patch of cultivation, a rickety platform was 
erected among the grain, and native boys were 
stationed on top of it, whistling, shouting, and throwing 
stones to scare the birds away from the grain. The boys 
are not often visible, but are always audible, and it is 
rather uncanny to be marching along between high rows 
of millet or maize with no one in sight and yet to hear 
voices echoing over the hills in every direction. 

We camped that night at Big Tree, about sixteen 
miles from Fort Hall, where we encountered a pic- 
turesque old savage chief, Githai, who was very friendly 
but very insistent about backsheesh. He admired 
almost everything he saw, but he took a particular fancy 
to my tent boy's Jaeger blanket, and nothing would 
satisfy him until he had annexed it. In exchange he 

61 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

gave us a skinny chicken and two eggs of questionable 
age. Githai's costume consisted of some old trousers, 
a long coat, and a blue yachting cap, which equipment 
he had managed to accumulate from some unknown 
source. What a yachting cap could be doing in central 
Africa is a surmise, but it was there, and Githai had it. 
There is very little fire-wood to be had here so he sup- 
ports a wood-pile, and exacts compensation for it, thus 
making a good living out of passers-b3^ At night his 
soldiers, in their full war costume, with white shields 
painted with curious devices in red and black, enormous 
spears, and fineiy of all sorts, crowded around our tents, 
and insisted upon shaking hands — much to our disgust, 
for they smelled horribly. Still, etiquette requires it in 
passing through the country, so we had to receive this 
war-like delegation, who came up, extended greasy 
paws, saluted us with " Jombo " (which, I believe, 
means, "How do you do?"), and begged cigarettes, 
matches, food, and everything else they saw. We finally 
had to tell them to begone, their odor was so very un- 
pleasant. We came to the conclusion — which was 
strengthened later — that it is doubtful if a Kikuyu is 
ever washed from the day he is born until he dies. The 
accumulation of castor-oil, red clay, and general filth 
is not conducive to close affiliation, at least with white 
people. 



CHAPTER V 

NATIVES ON THE ROUTE 

The march next day was only four hours to the 
Thiba River, where the Government has erected a rather 
pretentious camp, with cut fire-wood near by. Here we 
were quite comfortable. The camp was pitched on the 
top of a hill, free from mosquitoes and dirt, and near 
quite a beautiful river, in which we caught some eels 
and fish. Doves abound here and we shot some of them 
and found them delicious eating. We could not eat the 
eels, by the way, no matter in what form they were 
cooked, and they were even less attractive than the great 
number of native visitors who swarmed around at this 
camp also. 

We did little fishing, as we had been told that 
it was not worth while to waste any time on tliis 
sport. But all the rivers and streams were filled with 
finny inhabitants, and our men would frequently spend 
the afternoon catching great strings of fish from 
eighteen inches to two feet long and which looked like 
a coarse, heavy chub. The men were very fond of these, 
but upon having some of them cooked, we found that 
they were filled with tiny bones that were a great 
nuisance, and the taste was not very palatable, so we 
did not experiment much with them. I remember 
seeing Esau at the Pesi swamp busily engaged 

63 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

one afternoon in hauling out these fish as fast as he 
could throw the baited hook in. He had a most suc- 
cessful time, catching some forty or fifty in a couple 
of hours. He split and dried them on some bushes, and 
claimed he was taking them home to his brother at Fort 
Hall. Esau was a great glutton, however, and I 
imagine his brother was not benefited greatly by his 
day off from shikari work. 

On Sunday, the 29th, we left at seven o'clock and 
reached Embo at eleven. The road is good, but very 
hilly, the last half-mile approaching the Fort being a 
terrible climb. It was almost incredible the way the 
porters swarmed up the sides of the hill, like so many 
goats, carrying their loads with apparently no difficulty 
whatever. Embo and the country around it are ruled 
by Mr. Horn, the District Collector, who resides there 
all alone, and whom we had to see before we could do 
any hunting. He was out shooting when we arrived, 
and we had to camp, to await his return. 

There were a great many visiting chiefs here, and our 
gun-bearers learned from the local natives that game 
was plentiful not far away, and that buff'alo were to be 
had about six miles off*. This was the farthest point 
north that we reached on the eastern side of Kenia, and 
we had made nine marches from the Athi River station. 

Mr. Horn arrived in the evening of the following 
day. He immediately called upon us and kindly asked 
us to put up at the Fort, but we thought it better to 
remain in our tents. We took up with him the question 

64 



NATIVES ON THE ROUTE 

of elephant shooting, which, as stated before, we had 
anticipated doing on Mount Kenia, and he informed us 
that he could not permit us to shoot to the north of the 
Fort Hall-Embo road, on which side Mount Kenia lay, 
unless there was a special permission given by Mr. 
Jackson or by Mr. Horn's superior, Mr. Lane, at Fort 
Hall. Our permit did not give this permission specifi- 
cally, but as Mr. Lane was expected to arrive the fol- 
lowing day, we waited to see him. Unfortunately, he 
did not come, and we could not obtain any privileges in 
this direction, although we sent letters to him and 
telegrams by a runner to Mr. Jackson, asking to have 
this permit confirmed. 

Mr. Lane's objection was that the Government was 
collecting at that time a hut tax from all the natives 
around Kenia, and as this tribute is not a popular one 
with the natives, he was afraid that by taking in a large 
safari some disturbance might be created and our lives 
be in danger, in which case it would require a punitive 
expedition, and rather than run the risk of the shghtest 
trouble he refused our application, but told us if we 
would wait three weeks, he would permit us to go on the 
slopes of Kenia, as his collection would then be over. 

This was a great disappointment, as our only chance 
with elephants was on the slopes of Kenia, the dry 
season giving no encouragement of encountering them 
elsewhere along our projected march. 

This collection of the hut tax which so interfered 
with our hunt after elephants, is one of the revenues by 

5 65 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

which the Government is supported. Every native 
within the radius of a certain district pays a tax of a 
few rupees for each hut that he owns. Every wife has 
a separate domicile, so a man who has ten or fifteen 
wives has to pay taxes upon so many different huts. 
In exchange for this tax the Government supports the 
forts and police, protects the natives from raids, and 
looks after their welfare and condition in general. The 
District Commissioner in each section is judge and jury, 
medical officer, head of the military police, and, in fact, 
the supreme ruler, under direction from Nairobi, of the 
territory under his control. His duties are manifold, 
and it requires a versatile man to fill the position with 
credit. 

The native is, of course, in a most primitive con- 
dition. He has no ambition except to obtain food, 
clothing, and some place to sleep. The two latter are 
not complicated problems for him. The food question 
is the main difficulty and one that affects most seriously 
all the farming tribes. The African is notoriously im- 
provident. If he has plenty of food to-day, he eats all 
that he can, and saves none for next day, trusting to 
luck to obtain it then. This lack of providence on his 
part brings about a condition that is very susceptible to 
droughts and climatic conditions, for if the crops fail, 
famine devastates whole districts. Then the Govern- 
ment has to step in and supply food for the people 
therein. 

At such times it is difficult for safaris to obtain 

66 



NATIVES ON THE ROUTE 

food locally. The native would gladly sell the surplus 
over his inunediate wants, but the District Commis- 
sioner will interfere and tell safaris that they must not 
buy food in his district, owing to the shortage, it being 
one of his duties to see that the people under him are 
fed. The natives' lack of ambition to possess either 
clothing, ornaments, or to better their condition in any 
way, is one of the difficulties which confront those who 
are striving for the development of Africa. Labor is 
distasteful to the native, and he cannot be induced to 
give it for the improvement of his country. At every 
point I found a scarcity of labor, although men were 
plentiful. They would work only for a day or two and 
then live on the proceeds until hunger made it neces- 
sary to work again. 

The Government has been endeavoring to encourage 
familiarity with money on the part of the natives, for 
if they have to pay their tax in coin, they must of 
necessity secure the latter by work. Within the last 
few years many tribes who were once entirely content 
to barter for trinkets, beads, and other trifles, have 
taken to demanding cash for their services and products. 

No doubt in time a further change will be brought 
about and the common native, in his desire to dress and 
decorate his wives with jewelry, may emulate his chief, 
whose wives at the present time are more decorated 
than those of the ordinary warrior. 

If the native women once get imbued with the desire 
for finery and can persuade their husbands to get it for 

67 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

them, then the men must of necessity labor harder, to 
the general improvement and welfare of the country, 
and the labor question may be solved. Until then, it 
would seem as if the pay which is given to the men, 
and which seems so ridiculously small from our stand- 
ards, is ample for the quantity and quality of the work 
which they perform. I think the Government pays as 
a standard for labor four rupees per month, possibly 
it is only three, and out of this the native must secure his 
food. A dollar and forty cents a month seems little 
enough pay, but one good Italian laborer can accomplish 
more in a day than a couple of dozen of these dawdling 
natives. The latter's ambition to own and improve 
must be aroused, but this will never be accomplished if 
the results are too easily obtained. There was no meet- 
ing which I attended in Nairobi, where a number of 
settlers were together, that the question of labor was 
not discussed with a keenness and a vehemence that 
showed an interest not exceeded by that which conditions 
arouse in discussion here in America. 

During the morning of the 30th, Mr. Horn had the 
natives give a war dance, which was extremely interest- 
ing and picturesque. The men were all sons of neigh- 
boring Masai chiefs, and local " swells," and they were 
well drilled and splendidly armed with native equip- 
ment. They carried huge shields painted with fancy 
devices, and wore masks or disks of ostrich feathers 
which fitted around the face and gave a formidable and 
terrifying appearance, and greatly exaggerated the 

68 



NATIVES ON THE ROUTE 

height of the men. Some had bomiets made out of 
hon's skin, and some of baboon's. All had jangling 
pieces of metal around their legs, so that there were 
constant musical sounds as they ran and jumped and 
performed the evolutions of the dance. They marched 
around in perfect order, singing their war songs, which 
had little variety, and seemed to be a repetition in 
rhythm of certain words. Occasionally one of the men 
would dash out from the main body and leap high in 
the air, brandishing his spear and shouting, and ap- 
parently working himself up to a degree of excitement 
which, Mr. Horn told us, would ultimately reach a state 
of frenzy and mental intoxication almost equal to that 
occasioned by alcohol. The physical exertion seems to 
work upon their nervous system until their excitement 
is uncontrollable. Before a certain pitch of excitement 
is reached it is absolutely necessary to stop the war 
dance, or the results might be the same as if a whole 
band of drunken men ran amuck. It was an interesting 
sight, and one which I did not see duplicated. 

After lunch we followed the safari, which we had 
sent on ahead to a buffalo camp about six miles from 
the fort. We left the mules at the station, with one 
syce to look after them, as we could not take them into 
the country which we were entering, owing to the tsetse 
flies, which abound in the valley of the Tana. The 
mules were later taken to Fort Hall by the syce, who 
met us with them when we reached there some three 
weeks later. 

69 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

When we reached camp with our gun-bearers, we 
found that All Aden, our headman, had seen some 
buffalo and a rliino as he came to camp, and everything 
had been kept quiet so as not to alarm the game. Later 
we went hunting back of the camp, away from the 
swamp, but saw nothing save some hartebeest and 
water-buck. Williams watched the marsh until dark 
for buffalo, and saw five of them, tliree rhinos, and a 
leopard, but it was too dark to shoot. We looked 
forward to a successful hunt on the next day, and 
were delighted with the idea that we had at last found 
buffalo country. 

Just after we finished dinner, and had settled down, 
talking quietly, we heard a heavy pounding of feet on 
the ground, a snort or two, and the screaming and 
shouting of the porters as a rhino dashed through the 
very centre of the camp, about twenty yards from 
where we were sitting. Much to our relief, he did not 
return, but continued on his way unmolested. 



CHAPTER VI 

BIG GAME SHOOTING AND ITS DANGERS 

We breakfasted by candlelight the next morning, 
and then crept silently toward the buffalo marsh, which 
we reached in less than a half -hour. Lying down among 
the bushes and long grass, we watched carefully for 
several hours, but saw notliing, and returned to camp 
at nine o'clock. During the afternoon I missed a water- 
buck and an impalla, with the usual bad luck which I 
had been experiencing for the past ten days. 

Later in the day six porters arrived from Fort Hall, 
caiTying mealies for porters' food. They received the 
usual compensation of eight annas, or sixteen cents, 
each for five days' work! 

January 1st we again hunted the swamp for buffalo, 
but saw no game except two small rhinos. Williams, 
who had left the camp at daybreak, going south, re- 
turned about ten o'clock, having shot two eland and 
one water-buck. The law permits only one eland, but 
the two heads were obtained through an accident that 
is not unusual. After sighting an eland at some dis- 
tance, he made a careful stalk, creeping on hands and 
knees, and shot the bull, which was standing, facing 
him, in the long grass. The bull fell, and Williams 
rushed forward to make sure that it was dead. He 
was hidden for an instant from the spot where the 

71 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

animal had fallen, and upon reaching the top of the 
rise he saw his bull, as he thought, walking down 
the liill in front of him. Thinking it had rv^covered 
and was making off, he fired again, and the bull fell 
dead. Upon going up to skin him, he looked for the 
mark of his first bullet, but could not find it, and to 
his astonishment, upon retracing his steps and hunting 
through the grass, he found the first beast also. They 
were two fine heads, one twenty-five and one-half inches 
and the other twenty-five inches on the straight line. 
He left one of his gun-bearers to watch the heads, and 
returned to camp for help, as he had seen signs of 
game all through the country which he had traversed. 
On his way back he shot a fine ellipsiprymnus water- 
buck. He left liis other gun-bearer to watch the latter, 
and hastened to us. His round trip up to ten o'clock 
must have covered at least fifteen miles, but he secured 
a fine bag. 

As has been said, the eland were almost exterminated 
from East Africa some ten years ago by the rinder- 
pest, but careful preservation by law has fostered their 
recovery. We found them in herds of considerable 
numbers all through our journey, after we crossed to 
the north of the Tana and in Laikipia. They go about 
in bands of from ten to twenty-five, and are enormous 
animals; in fact, the largest of all antelopes. A big 
bull eland will stand about six feet at the shoulder. They 
have a tawny colored skin, somewhat darker than a lion, 
with bluish white, perpendicular stripes about half -inch 

72 



'***s 




ELAND 

( Taiirofraijiis ori/.c) 



BIG GAME SHOOTING— ITS DANGERS 

wide over part of the body. The face has a large tuft of 
dark brown hair on the forehead, below which there is 
a slightly lighter shade of color in the shape of a chevron 
between the eyes. They have quite a long tail and an 
enormous dewlap which hangs down far between their 
legs. They are supposed to succumb very easily to a 
shot, but I did not find it so in my case, although that 
may have been the shooting. Their horns are long and 
very heavy, and have a spiral twist in them for the lower 
half and diverge at rather a wide angle. There is a 
much larger race of eland somewhere in the Sudan,, 
the horns of which run up in the neighborhood of forty 
inches in length. Those in East Africa, however, are 
not so long, about thirty-one inches being the greatest 
length known so far. They are delicious eating, the 
meat being like fine beef. Despite their great size and 
weight, they manage to cover the ground rapidly. I 
understand that in the present year, 1909, they have 
again been stricken off the game to be shot, and put 
upon the protected list. 

We had prepared to break camp during Williams' 
absence, so immediately after he finished his breakfast, 
we started off for the Riping Waler River, about twelve 
miles away. We camped just beyond where the eland 
were killed, and on our way stopped to see the water- 
buck. The gun-bearer stated that while he was watch- 
ing the carcass, a lioness had come after it, and was 
loitering around in the neighborhood. He pointed out 
the direction where he had last seen her, and with our 

73 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

gun-bearers we proceeded to beat up the neighborhood, 
and shortly afterward saw the lioness take to her heels 
through the long grass. 

We placed Mrs. Madeira on top of a high ant-liill, 
so that she could see the proceedings, and after a long, 
hard chase the honess took to the bushes, which were 
extremely dense and almost impenetrable. Williams 
took a flying shot at her just as she jumped in, and the 
bullet came very close to her. He then very recklessly 
proceeded into the bush after her, and while crawling 
around just inside, so as to look underneath the bushes, 
made use of a rhino-path. I was on the outside, waiting 
for the lioness to come out if she would, and heard him 
call to look out for a rhino which at that moment 
charged down the path, barely giving him time to throw 
himself into the bushes on one side to escape. The 
rhino came out some distance away from liim, but near 
me, giving me a shot at it on the run, which, however, 
failed to do anything but hurry it along. 

Our camp at this spot was very well situated on 
the edge of the Riping' Waler River, which is here 
overhung with trees of a rarer beauty than most that 
we had seen so far. The stream was very beautiful all 
along the bank, with broad stretches of plains extending 
to the north, and rolling country on either side of it, 
with here and there groves of enormous trees. 

In the morning, following up one of the ridges, I 
missed an impalla, and later saw a rliino, which I fol- 
lowed for a considerable distance, but finally lost in 

74 



BIG GAME SHOOTING— ITS DANGERS 

the trees and long grass. In the afternoon, we saw 
a number of waterbuck, hartebeest, and impalla, a 
leopard, a rhino, and a hippo, but did not bag any of 
them. 

By this time I was discouraged with my shootmg, 
for I had shot nothing since the 22d of December. Ex- 
planations for this may be many, but one of them, I 
am satisfied, partially answers the question. The intense 
light, coupled with heat vibration, renders judgment as 
to distance extremely uncertain in the middle of the day. 
There is always the strong radiation of heat from the 
earth's surface, just as from a railroad track in hot 
weather, which may extend up from the ground a couple 
of feet. An animal seen through this when you are 
lying down, as you generally are on the plains, becomes 
magnified and looks much nearer than it really is. When 
a breath of wind blows the heat-waves away, it stands 
out clear, appearing in its actual size, and much farther 
off. These alternate conditions are extremely trying, 
and probably most hunters never get wholly used to 
them, though they have less effect after a while than at 
first. I was in such a worried condition over my shoot- 
ing at this time that the next morning Williams came 
out with me to see what the trouble was. His long 
experience in Africa, extending over five or six years, 
apparently rendered him immune from such troubles. 

We finally saw a waterbuck, and, getting into a 
good position, I succeeded in bagging him at about one 
hundred and fifty yards with my own rifle, which some- 

75 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

what restored my confidence. On our way back to camp 
we encountered another. Williams made a splendid 
shot of two hundred and fifty yards and dropped it 
stone dead. 

In the afternoon I started for a buffalo swamp, a 
few miles off, but on the way encountered a herd of 
twenty-nine impalla, one with a beautiful head. They 
were on the open plain, rendering stalking most difficult, 
and I crawled around on all fours for an hour or two, 
before I got a long shot, which missed. Shortly after 
I saw a great many waterbuck, which I could not get 
near, so in despair tried a shot at tliree hundred paces, 
and with good luck landed a big one; in fact, the best 
ellipsiprymnus that I got on the trip, measuring twenty- 
seven and three-quarter inches. 

My confidence was now returning, so on the way to 
camp I tried a Coke's hartebeest with a very fine set of 
horns and succeeded in dropping him at the first shot. 
By this time, after such a good day, I felt more encour- 
aged, and had no return of bad marksmanship during 
the balance of the trip. 

WiUiams also had a good day, bagging a rhino 
about three miles from camp, an impalla and a wart- 
hog. He left some of the men to watch the rhino, and 
they stayed up all night to keep off the hyenas and 
birds, at the same time skinning the head. The next 
morning they brought the head and all the meat in, the 
first of this species that we had secured. 

It is hardly necessary to describe the rhinoceros, so 

76 




O o 

l-H O 

w I 



i 



BIG GAME SHOOTING— ITS DANGERS 

well known is it, and so typical of Africa in the mind 
of every one since childhood days. He is, however, a 
somewhat more imposing looking animal in his wild 
state than when behind the bars in a zoological garden. 
In his wild state he looks enormous, and, indeed, the 
average height at the shoulder is in the neighborhood of 
five feet, and I should judge that the average weight 
must be from a ton and three-quarters to two tons. 
They are about twelve feet long, from tip of nose to tip 
of tail, and tremendously heavy in their build. Their 
color varies, dependent upon the mud in their particular 
bathing pool, some being red and some grey. They 
have two horns, but instances have been known where 
five horns have been noticed, though this must be a 
freak. Their short legs and clumsy appearance would 
lead one to believe that they are very slow on their 
feet, and they are just the contrary. They can turn 
and twist in their own length hke a cat, and for 
fifty to seventy-five yards their dash is as quick 
as a polo pony's, and they are as agile and speedy as 
the latter. As is well known, their eyesight is bad, and 
is the one thing that reduces their dangerous nature. 
They are the bullies of Africa, and are apparently 
always spoiling for a row. They are a great nuisance 
throughout the country, for when stalking some other 
animal which you are particularly keen to secure, the 
ubiquitous rhino is likely to pop up in front of you, 
making necessary a wide detour, or preparations for 
immediate defense. After I had secured my quota of 

77 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

two, I hated the sight of them, for they are all over the 
country and appear at the most unexpected moments, 
usually only twenty-five or fifty yards away from you. 

A question which is asked by almost everybody is, 
" Which is considered the most dangerous animal in 
Africa? " This is a disputed point, opinion being di- 
vided between the elephant, the lion and the buffalo. 
Still, the rhino is far from being out of consideration, 
and to some, it is extremely terrifying. In discussing 
this subject with hunters of great experience I found 
them far from unanimous. My own opinion is value- 
less for I never saw wild elephants, and failed to get 
closer than to follow their freshly made tracks. 

Mr. F. C. Selous, the greatest naturalist hunter of 
all ages, holds the opinion, that, taking a long average, 
the lion is the most dangerous of African game; that 
if a large number of elephants and buffaloes were shot 
by one man, probably a larger proportion of the ele- 
phants shot would charge than of the buffaloes. Con- 
sidering that a charging buffalo is a very much more 
difficult animal to stop or turn than is a charging ele- 
phant, the buffalo is probably on the whole the more 
dangerous animal of the two. 

It would seem that the most dangerous animal is, 
first of all, that one from which the person in question 
has had the narrowest escape, be it elephant, lion, or 
buffalo. Each is dangerous, the degree of danger be- 
ing dependent upon the character of the country in 
which the animal is located at the moment. A lion in 

78 



BIG GAME SHOOTING — ITS DANGERS 

long grass, an elephant in the jungle, or a buffalo in 
bush and swamps, is each in its own sphere more dan- 
gerous than either of the others would be were they 
in countiy that was not adapted to their activity and 
ferocity. 

Most men are of the opinion that a lion is the most 
dangerous, but many who have lived in Africa for years, 
tell me that they consider the buffalo the most vindictive 
and ferocious, and some who have shot all three, con- 
sider the elephant as ranking first. 

iTheir deductions are based upon several conditions. 
A wounded lion is undoubtedly a terrible antagonist, 
but he is more easily killed than a buffalo or an elephant, 
partly because of his thin skin. I should judge that a 
bullet will range through a lion and do more damage 
than it would in the case of either of the other two 
animals. A lion or a buffalo can be escaped from by 
climbing a tree, but an elephant cannot, for he is able 
to break down almost any tree that a man can climb. 
I am told that a lion will sometimes leave his victim 
before he has killed him, but a buffalo will not. The 
latter will track his victim, stalk him, and stand for 
hours at a time motionless, waiting for the hunter to 
follow him. Should the latter do so, the animal leaves 
his trail, turns off to one side and faces his back track, 
so that the unwary hunter who keeps the trail may be 
in turn stalked from the side or rear without a moment's 
warning. After the buffalo gets his man, he horns him 
again and again, finally stamping him into a shapeless 
pulp. 

79 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

I should judge that a buffalo is more difficult to kill 
than a lion, for the smaller the target the more chance 
there is of a bullet finding a fatal spot or else missing 
entirely. 

The elephant, when wounded, must also be the in- 
carnation of fury, his tremendous strength and in- 
telhgence possibly enabling him to do more damage than 
either of the others. The lion apparently has wonderful 
eyesight, the buffalo has good eyes and an uncommonly 
good nose, and the elephant is sensitive to smell, but 
apparently has not quite such good sight. All three 
of them, when wounded, are dangerous to a degree. 

The rhino is more feared by the natives than the 
lion, for their weapons are harmless against him, and 
his terrific rush has a speed that is well nigh incredible. 
His sight, however, is so bad that he is more easily 
dodged than the others, and yet one has only to read 
Mr. William Astor Chanler's story of his difficulties 
on the Guaso Nyiro, and of Lieutenant Von Haenel's 
almost fatal encounter with a rhinoceros, to realize that 
the huge beast is no mean antagonist. 

There are many experiences that one hears of in 
Africa about rhinos that are replete with fatalities, and 
the brute, himself, is such an uncanny and awe inspiring 
animal, that he is not to be slighted in the fist of the 
dangerous animals. 

In considering fatalities to hunters, I presume more 
men are killed by lions, either directly from the attack 
or by subsequent blood-poisoning, than by either ele- 
phants or buffalo, which is partly because more men 

80 




WILLIAMS AND HIS FIRST WATERBUCK 



BIG GAME SHOOTING— ITS DANGERS 

hunt lions than either of the other two animals. The 
large majority of sportsmen in East Africa get one or 
more lions, although it is entirely a case of luck to run 
across them during the daytime. One man who was 
there while I was got fourteen lions in a few months, 
another got seven lions in less than a week, but, on the 
other hand, there are men who have lived there for 
twenty-five years, and have hunted too, yet have never 
shot a lion, and some who have never even seen one in 
all their many years in the veldt. 

A few sportsmen get buffalo, while a still smaller 
number get elephants, and therefore in looking over the 
list of fatalities it becomes a question of percentage. I 
suppose a greater number of men who get buffalo and 
elephants are killed or hurt than the percentage of men 
who hunt lions. Somewhere I have seen — but I cannot 
quote it with authority — that the ninth lion killed 
generally gets his man. 

There is one other beast which is not often considered 
in the discussion of the most dangerous animals, and 
yet men who have had experience look upon him, when 
he is wounded, with a degree of respect that places 
him not even second to the lion. I mean a wounded 
leopard. He is the sneakiest, meanest hunter, and the 
most cruel, ferocious, and wicked fighter of possibly 
any of the cat tribe. His tremendous agility and speed 
exceed the lion's. He springs upon a man, biting the 
neck and tearing with his hind claws, which are nearly 
as large as a lion's, and before it can be guarded against 
he has almost disemboweled his victim. I have been 

6 81 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

told by men who have shot both tigers and leopards in 
India, that they would rather follow a wounded tiger 
into the jungle than they would a wounded leopard, and 
the number of victims claimed by the leopard would 
make a large total. In Africa the leopard is rarely 
seen, being a night hunter, but when he commences to 
get in his fine work among the flocks, the destruction 
he causes is almost beyond calculation. A lion will go 
among a herd of cattle and kill one and be satisfied. 
But when a leopard gets inside a kraal he will frequently 
kill every animal within sight, from the pure love of 
kilHng. 

A cheetah has been known to kill men M^hen 
wounded, and as his size is but little less than a leopard's, 
I should say he was quite formidable, yet nothing like 
the leopard, as his claws are not so sharp, and he is a 
running animal, not a tree-chmber. He hunts entirely 
by eyesight, and can even catch an Indian black buck 
in the open, therefore he is used in India for this pur- 
pose, where he is tamed and used for coursing antelopes, 
and is known as the " hunting leopard." 

Most wounded bucks, if approached too near, and 
if not crippled beyond activity, will try to protect them- 
selves. A prominent American hunter was nearly 
killed a few years ago by a wounded waterbuck which 
he approached too closely. Either an oryx, sable, or 
roan antelope will kill a man if he comes within reach 
of their sharp horns. Each has been known to hold a 
lion at bay, and in some cases even to kill the king of 
beasts. 

82 



BIG GAME SHOOTING— ITS DANGERS 

The distance at which one has to shoot game m 
Africa varies considerably. If the animals are large 
or dangerous, the hunter must usually approach quite 
close, for it is essential that every bullet should tell, and 
the nearer, of course, the easier the shot. In bush 
countiy it is generally possible by carefully stalking, to 
get within from seventy-five to one hundred and twenty- 
five yards of your animal, but on the plains this is not 
always possible, and a long-range shot is necessary. I 
should judge that in country of this kind the usual shot 
at an antelope is at about one hundred and fifty to two 
hundred yards, and in isolated instances a lucky shot 
may kill at a little longer range. I never but once tried 
anything over three hundred yards, and considered my- 
self extremely lucky that I managed to hit. In one in- 
stance I did shoot a Grant's gazelle at four hundred 
paces, but it was such a lucky fluke, and at the ex- 
penditure of such a lot of ammunition, that I considered 
it nothing but a chance shot, and would not attempt it 
under ordinary conditions. In this case I was done up 
after a hard stalk, pursuing this very desirable Grant, 
which kept pottering along in front of me and paying 
no attention to two or three shots which I attempted at 
a nearer range. I finally lost my temper and made up 
my mind to get him if I possibly could. I think it was 
about the fourteenth shot that I finally secured him. I 
have read that shots of 450 and 600 yards are often 
made, but I cannot see how it is done, as at such a dis- 
tance the animals on the plains are to the eye not much 
bigger than rabbits. 

83 



CHAPTER VII 

A RHINO AND OTHER GAME 

The quantity of meat required to feed a safari the 
size of ours is almost incredible, and not a scrap of any 
animal that was shot on our trip was ever wasted. The 
very bones were brought into camp, and picked clean, 
and the marrow from the larger ones was extracted. 
In reading of African trips I had been surprised at the 
amount of game that had to be shot, but I found out by 
personal experience how much the natives crave this 
kind of food, and on hard marches absolutely need it 
to keep up their strength. 

The climate is so hot that meat will not keep, and 
for one's own table it is necessary to supply fresh meat 
at least every other day. Some of the smaller animals 
do not provide much more than a meal, or, at the most, a 
day's supply. Steinbuck, duiker, and oribi, for instance, 
have but little meat upon them. 

Most of the larger animals have coarse flesh that to 
anybody but a native is almost impossible. The quantity 
of meat that a native porter can consume has, I believe, 
been noted by a famous explorer as nearly fifteen 
pounds per day. This, of course, is more than necessary, 
but it would be nothing for them to eat from five to 
seven pounds, and then they would not consider that 
they were overfed. 

84 




WATERBUCK 

[Cobus elUpsiprymnus) 



A RHINO AND OTHER GAME 

Game is so plentiful in Africa that it is not injured 
by thinning out a little, and as these wild animals by 
right belong to the black man, it is not out of place that 
he should be fed by them. 

A lion probably kills from one hundred to two hun- 
dred animals in a year, depending upon their size, and 
I noticed that in the winter season of 1908-'09 the game 
reports showed that there were killed by sportsmen in 
British East Africa one hundred and ten lions and three 
thousand antelope. The one hundred and ten lions 
would normally kill in the neighborhood of from fifteen 
thousand to twenty thousand antelope in a year, prob- 
ably far more than all the sportsmen in Africa 
from one end to the other would kill in the same 
length of time. It is necessary to understand the 
conditions of native travel there to appreciate the 
quantity of game, and how much has to be killed 
to supply meat for a caravan of from seventy-five to 
a hundred men. 

Our two elands and the waterbuck were entirely 
consumed within twenty- four hours, and during the 
evening there was a grand jollification among the men, 
with dancing and feasting all night. But during our 
trip there were long periods of time when the men 
were without meat, much to their disgust, and they 
claimed that we did not give them nearly as much as 
most " sahibs " did. 

Everything comes together, apparently, out here, 
for the next day, although we scoured the country in 

85 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

the morning, we saw nothing to shoot, and spent the 
afternoon fixing up heads and taking care of skins and 
horns. 

We broke camp and moved south in the direction 
of the Thiba river, across a rolHng country, with 
splendid mimosa trees. Here it was very different 
from the Athi Plains. The grass was luxuriant, being 
from one to two feet high and while still of the same 
brown color prevalent throughout the country, it had 
evidently been undisturbed in its growth, thus afford- 
ing what seemed fine grazing, on the beautiful meadows 
or savannahs which the rolling nature of the land 
produced. 

On the slopes surrounding these plains grew the 
mimosa trees, like apple orchards, not only in the space 
between them, but also in their size, for these trees do 
not crowd one another, but always seem to be at a dis- 
tance apart that permits the roots of each tree to obtain 
whatever nourishment they can without infringing on 
the roots of their neighbor. The result is that there is 
rarely undergrowth where they are found, and this still 
more heightens the effect of a well-kept orchard. 

Along the river banks grew huge trees as large as 
one would find our elms and oaks and looking not unlike 
the elm, except that they were more dense in their 
foliage. The whole district that we travelled between 
Embo and the Tana, comprised country of this nature, 
and water was plentiful in all the rivers. 

Shortly after starting, Williams thought he saw 

86 



£ 2 








A RHINO AND OTHER GAME 

a lion moving off from us. After careful stalk- 
ing, he finally broke into a run as soon as 
the animal was out of sight, but a long, hard chase 
disclosed it to be only a hyena. While he was thus 
engaged the safari halted, and, walking on a short 
distance ahead, I saw a steinbuck which looked as if 
it had a good head, and shot at it. I missed it with 
the first shot, but it only jumped a few feet and stood 
again, when the second shot hit it and it fell dead. Upon 
examining it, I was struck by its long horns. It after- 
ward proved to be one of the largest, if not the record 
head, for British East Africa. 

When I first saw this little antelope I did not know 
exactly what it was, and could not classify it until I 
had reference to Rowland Ward's Book of Record 
Heads. The steinbuck is a racy little animal, about 
nineteen inches high, and weighing about twenty-five 
pounds. It is of a bright sandy red color, which be- 
comes a httle darker on the head, that on the nose some- 
times being a darker brown. It has no lateral hoofs, 
and the horns stand straight up from the head in 
parallel lines and have no rings. The ears are ab- 
normally large. The little animals are generally found 
in couples, and we saw them almost everywhere we 
went. They are very like to stand when first surprised, 
giving a good mark but a small one. I found them in 
Laikipia, near Thomson's Falls, on the open plains, a 
somewhat different kind of country from that in which 
we had met them heretofore. The altitude is quite high 

87 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

in Laikipia, and, possibly on account of the cold, they 
have here a much thicker and coarser coat. Wherever 
we came across them in our previous journey we found 
them near more or less cover of bushes and not out on 
the open plains. 

A half-mile beyond the point where I shot the stein- 
buck we heard shouts of "Faru!" from the porters, 
and, rapidly coming up to the front, we saw a rhino 
standing under a tree. It had apparently been dis- 
turbed by the porters, and was looking around, trying 
to get our wind. We sent Mrs. Madeira a little distance 
back, as there was no protection except a few very small 
bushy trees that stood about six or eight feet high. 
After she had gone about one hundred and fifty yards, 
to a tree of good size which she could climb if it were 
necessary, we advanced toward the beast. Suddenly a 
second rhino rose up from the grass, also looking for 
us, and this was immediately followed by a third. All 
had their tails straight up in the air in the ridiculous way 
they carry them, and their heads were twisting around 
in every direction, trying to locate us. When we got 
within about forty yards, I picked out the biggest, and 
fired, giving him both barrels. The two others im- 
mediately ran off, but the one I shot at stumbled, and 
then Williams fired, and we alternately pumped into 
him eight solid shots before he fell, about fifty to a 
hundred yards from where we first saw him. He was 
not very large, the front horn measuring only seventeen 
inches, but very heavy. It was some time after he fell 



A RHINO AND OTHER GAME 

before the last signs of life ceased, nerv^ous contraction 
of the muscles continuing until a rather amusing situ- 
ation arose. As we were about to photograph liim, 
Mrs. Madeira was induced to climb up and sit on his 
back, and while in that position, and with the camera 
levelled, the last convulsive heave occurred, and Mrs. 
Madeira nearly fell off with fright before she could 
jump down. We put another bullet into his brain to 
keep him permanently quiet. The sensation of sitting 
on the top of one of those beasts, with a shudder going 
through him, could not have been entirely pleasant. 

While we were superintending skinning his head the 
main body of the safari went on. In a short time one 
of the porters came running back, and announced that 
the head of the safari had seen ten lions just where we 
wanted to camp, which was at the next water, about a 
mile farther on. This caused the greatest excitement, 
for while we were very eager to get lions, we were 
hardly anxious to tackle ten at once. We rushed for- 
ward, however, as fast as we could, and found the safari 
waiting on the brow of the hill, which fell away in a 
gentle slope to a river about thirty feet wide, on the 
opposite side of which a bend in the stream made a beau- 
tiful level meadow. Several of our porters declared that 
it was here they had seen these lions. Everytliing had 
been hushed immediately upon noticing them, and the 
caravan was lying flat on the ground, watching the spot 
where the menagerie had been sighted. 

The method of getting at them was difficult, owing 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

to the apparent meadow being an island. Williams and 
I approached the river and looked for a place to cross. 
We could not tell whether or not there were crocodiles 
in the river, and in fact, at that time we did not know 
whether the meadow was an island or connected with the 
mainland. After walking around through the bush, 
Williams recklessly jumped in and crossed the stream, 
carrying his rifle and cartridges above his head, and fol- 
lowed by his gun-bearer, Ali Shirwa. I beat up the other 
side of the stream through the bushes, around to the point 
where it was supposed that the neck of land connected 
it. After thoroughly covering the entire ground on both 
sides, we could find no trace of the lions, either by their 
tracks or otherwise, and were forced to the conclusion 
that the men had probably seen a troop of baboons, 
which at a distance appear to the native eye not unlike 
lions. It was all rather exciting, for both sides of the 
river were covered with thick bush, which, however, con- 
tained nothing but waterbuck and some very wild im- 
palla. The whole day was an interesting and exciting 
one from all standpoints. 

The succeeding day I started out at daylight, and in 
about fifteen minutes secured a waterbuck, though not a 
very large one. I saw nothing else except some impalla 
and Coke's hartebeest. I returned to camp early, and 
while I was taking some photographs of the camp 
barber and the natives a rhino hove in sight, coming 
down the path we had followed the day before and 
directly toward where we were. Seeing the tents, which 

90 



wp 



s:iiimMF;:^&, '•^^^^"" ~s*s 






#" 



/ 




^ 




A RHINO AND OTHER GAME 

were out in the open on the treeless side of the hill, he 
pranced around and went through the usual manoeuvres 
of trying to scent us, showing his anger by sticking up 
his tail. After stamping around a little while he made 
oiF. The natives were much impressed with Mrs. 
Madeira's interest in the animal, wliich was not more 
than a couple of hundred yards away, but declined her 
urgent invitation to go out and " catch " him, which, 
when interpreted to them, made them laugh 
immoderately. 

During the day the men went back to cut up the 
rliino we had shot the preceding day. They found that 
some Kikuyu had been there before them and had fled 
at their approach, leaving a spear, some knives, and a 
honey bucket, which my men promptly confiscated and 
brought back to camp. 

Williams leaving camp at the same time secured a 
waterbuck soon after he started and later on met a lone 
buffalo, which he pursued all morning and finally got 
a shot at, Iiitting but not stopping him. Some time 
after he caught up with the beast again and put in five 
more bullets. He tracked him until almost dark, but 
was unable to find him, and had to abandon the search 
in order to reach camp before nightfall. 

It was growing extremely hot, for we were getting 
down lower as we approached the Tana River and left 
the high hills of Embo, and the shade temperature in 
the tent in the middle of the day was ninety-five degrees, 
at night going down to about seventy. 

91 



I 



CHAPTER VIII 

A HARD HUNT NEAR THE TANA RIVER 

We all went after the buffalo the next day for 
Williams was anxious to recover it. We encountered a 
number of natives from a village about four or five 
miles away, to whom we offered a reward if they could 
locate the wounded bull, which was an extremely fine 
one. We also sent word to Chief Koutou, of the 
Kikuyu tribe of that district, offering a general reward 
of thirty rupees for the buffalo's head, but it was never 
found. 

We then headed for our next camp on the Tana 
River, leaving at seven in the morning. Shortly after 
crossing the Thiba River, over which we were carried 
on the shoulders of the men, we heard a lion " shouting " 
to the east, so we went ahead of the safari and made a 
slight detour in his direction to see if we could get in 
touch. But the sound got farther and farther away, 
and finally we lost it entirely. 

On reacliing a valley of one hundred and fifty or 
two hundred yards in width, about four miles from the 
starting-point, we saw a wart-hog which had very fine 
tusks, and I went forward to get him. While stalking 
him, I startled a hyena about twenty feet from me, 
which immediately scampered out of sight. At the same 
time I spied an eland bull standing under a tree some 

92 



A HARD HUNT NEAR THE TANA RIVER 

three hundred yards away. The whole caravan had 
stopped on the near side of the hill, and I began a 
stalk for the eland, but when I arrived around the brow 
of the hill which hid him from us in our stalking, we 
found that he had been frightened, possibly by the 
caravan and had run away. Three more hyenas here 
jumped up and were within easy shooting distance, as 
they stood for a moment w:ithin about fifty yards, 
before they dashed over the edge of the bank. 

I then sent word that the safari had better proceed 
to the camp, and with Ali Mirra, Baccari, and Mahomet 
Ali I went after the eland. Upon crawling up on top 
of the bank, we saw a large herd of eland and many 
Coke's hartebeest and zebra about five hundred yards 
away. The plain here was perfectly bare, and it was 
impossible to get near them without attracting their 
attention. We finally sent two of the men on a long 
detour around to the left, to try to drive them toward 
us, but the men showed themselves too soon and drove 
them off at right angles. The herd disappeared over 
the next roll of the country, which must have been 
half a mile away. 

Taking their direction, which was away from camp, 
we proceeded after them, and a few miles farther on 
discovered three more eland feeding on the opposite 
side of a slope. After a very long stalk I got within 
about two hundred yards, but missed two shots at them 
running. I followed them, and while crossing quite a 
high hill I discovered through the glasses a lone eland 

93 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

standing under a tree with his back toward us. I had 
to stalk him down a perfectly bare slope where we were 
in full view all the time, but it is astounding what small 
cover will sometimes conceal one. There was a little 
rain-wash that had gone down this hill, so, using this for 
cover, and starting almost a half mile away, we edged 
our way, Ali and I, over this baked ground, on which I 
could hardly put my hand, as it was like touching red- 
hot iron — so much so that I had to wrap my bare hand 
in a handkerchief while carrying the rifle in the other. 
Proceeding in tliis manner, stopping as we did every 
time the animal moved his head, it must have taken us 
more than an hour to crawl to within one hundred and 
fifty yards of him. I heard the fu'st shot hit, and fol- 
lowed that immediately with the second as he whirled 
around. He fell, apparently with a broken back, for 
he struggled to get up on his front feet, but could not 
do so, the hind legs and rear half being crippled and 
paralyzed. 

I intended to photograph him, but while I was get- 
ting the camera out of the case Ali called to me to run 
for a tree. Upon asking why, he pointed at some black 
objects coming over the brow of the hill a few hundred 
yards away and told me that the buif alo had been dis- 
turbed by the shot and were charging us. 

As I had heard that the Somali s are absolutely fear- 
less, I presumed that his suggestion was a wise one, 
and we all ran toward a most desirable looking tree 
about a hundred yards to the right. I could not state 

94 




^tsffsm^^mw) 



i 



A HARD HUNT NEAR THE TANA RIVER 

exactly who reached the tree first, but in spite of the 
thorns, it took only an instant for me to get some feet 
above the ground, where I was promptly followed by 
the others. All this time the buffalo were apparently 
gathering momentum, and, upon seeing them emerge 
from some trees wliich had hid them while they were 
in the hollow, we saw that they would pass near where 
the eland was and exactly over the spot from which I 
fired the shot. We descended, and, running hastily in 
that direction, saw them charging by some little distance 
away. We could not gain on them, so I took two or 
three shots at the one bull in the herd, but without any 
result except to hurry them. We were much disap- 
pointed, because we feared that they were the only herd 
in the section, and that we might have driven them out 
of the country. 

I was strongly impressed with their vicious appear- 
ance as I watched them through the glasses — their black, 
apparently hairless bodies, wicked-looking faces, great 
bulk and weight making them formidable looking 
animals. After they disappeared we proceeded to 
our eland, or rather where the eland had been, but 
could not find him. Upon searching with the glasses, 
he was discovered about three-quarters of a mile away, 
walking steadily and apparently uninjured in the direc- 
tion from which we had stalked. We chased him back 
toward our old camp, and finally got him four miles 
from where I had shot him, taking several shots to 
bring him down. His horns measured twenty-five 

95 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

inches, with thirteen inches spread, and he was a fine 
old bull. 

Long before this I had exhausted all the water in 
the water-bottle, and the intense heat and the sun had 
taken about all the energy out of me, as well as out of 
my men. We had at least six or eight miles farther 
to go to reach camp, and it was then about two o'clock 
in the afternoon. We had found no stream with which 
to replenish our water-bottles since we left our last 
camp. 

As Baccari was the strongest of the gun-bearers, 
and, besides that, was a Swahili, the Somalis imposed 
upon liim the burden of carrying the head until we could 
join the main path over wliich the caravan had gone. 
This was no hght job, as I should think the head, with 
its neck, skin and all, and in its wet condition, must 
have weighed from one hundred to one hundred and 
twenty-iive pounds. Baccari manfully struggled under 
this until at three o'clock we left him with Mahomet 
and one rifle to keep guard over the head until we could 
reach camp and send porters back for him. We also 
gave them matches, so that in case they had to stay out 
all night they could build a fire. Ali and I then started 
for camp, and shortly found the path over which the 
safari had gone. 

On the way we saw a lone buffalo up on a high hill 
about half a mile away, but I was too exhausted to go 
after him. We reached camp some time near five 
o'clock, thoroughly worn out. I immediately sent back 

96 




BACCARI CARRYING AN ELAND HEAD 



A HARD HUNT NEAR THE TANA RIVER 

several porters with lanterns, so that if they were kept 
out late they would have light to find their way back; 
and they returned with the head about eight o'clock at 
night. They were all quite tired out by this day's hunt, 
which, however, was most successful. My pedometer 
registered twenty-four miles, but that does not in any 
way indicate the energy required to crawl on the differ- 
ent stalks I made during that day. The intense heat 
made it one of the most tiring that I put in on the 
whole trip. 

When we arrived at camp we found that we had 
two European sportsmen for neighbors, about one 
hundred yards away from where our camp was pitched. 
Their proximity somewhat upset our plans, so we im- 
mediately called and asked in what direction they were 
going to hunt the following day, so we should not in- 
terfere with them, owing to their prior claims, they 
having arrived a short time before we did. Much to our 
delight, they had bagged a lioness about a half-mile 
from camp, the same day we got there, and we all hoped 
we had arrived in a country where our luck would 
materiahze with these much coveted trophies. 

During the evening, in relating the incident of the 
charge of the buffalo, I stated that we had all been 
afraid of them and had run to a tree. My tent boy 
evidently overheard this and repeated it in the Somalis' 
tent. The next morning, in a very dignified way and 
apparently much offended, Ali Mirra approached and 
desired to speak to the " Sahib." I went out to see what 

7 97 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

was the matter, and he told me that he had heard I 
had said he was afraid of the buffalo. He wished to 
state that he was not afraid for himself, but was afraid 
for me. Drawing himself up proudly, he said, " Me 
shikar. No afraid. Somali not afraid. Afraid for 
Bwana." Apparently my incautious remark, including 
him Avith all the rest of us, had given deep offense, for 
one of the principles of their religion, caste, or nation- 
ality makes it equivalent to a mortal sin for a Somah 
to be afraid. I had quite some difficulty in explaining 
that I had not meant that he was afraid for his own 
sake, and in this way smoothed the matter down. 

Our day brought forth nothing but an impalla, 
which I shot not far from camp. Our search for buffalo 
in all directions was unavailing, though there were 
tracks in every direction. I went back toward the hill 
on which I had seen the lone bull the day before, but 
failed to find him, as our neighbors had added him to 
their bag. 

During the day I saw impalla, waterbuck, and a 
bushbuck not far from camp, and also four rhinos. 
WilHams came in with his usual wart-hog, a fine speci- 
men with big warts and good tusks. 

One of the ugliest animals that walks the earth is 
the wart-hog, and I have been told that liis disposition is 
as unpleasant as his appearance. If such is the case, and 
he chose to put up a fight, he would be a most formidable 
antagonist. As his name indicates, he is decorated with 
warts, which are confined to his face. Large protuber- 

98 




WART-HOG 

(PhacocliaTiis seth iopicus) 



A HARD HUNT NEAR THE TANA RIVER 

ances about as big as horse chestnuts are on the line 
between his eye and tusks, two on each side, and on the 
jawbone and towards the rear there is a liigh ridge of 
w^art-hke growth. The head is rather flat and ex- 
tremely long. The upper jaw is armed with huge, 
curling tusks that in fine specimens almost meet in the 
centre over the nose. The under jaw has two that stick 
out at right angles and grind against the upper tusks, 
the lower ones being as sharp as needles and about from 
four to six inches long. He has a long mane of bristly 
hair on the neck and shoulders, the balance of the skin 
being nearly naked except around the face and neck, 
where bristly gray hairs are sparsely distributed. He 
stands at the shoulder about thirty inches, and weighs 
from two hundred to two hundred and twenty-five 
pounds. I did not have any charge me, but Williams 
did after wounding one, and indeed I have been told 
that when wounded thej'^ often charge without hesitation. 

In the afternoon we went down to the Tana River 
for crocodiles, but saw none. We located a flat which 
they used a good deal, but although we waited several 
hours for them they failed to appear. 

Tliis being a day ofl" for the entire camp, all the 
porters went back on our previous day's track and 
collected everj^ bit of meat and hide, the latter to be 
employed in making sandals, which was the use to 
which were put all the skins that were not brought home 
by me for mounting. 

The following day we sent two Somalis to locate 

99 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 



the buffalo by making a wide detour of the country, 
endeavoring to cut their paths in any direction. The 
country was very rolling, rising rapidly from the Tana 
River toward the northwest, and, after the hill country 
was passed, stretching off into great, wide plains as 
far as the neighborhood of Embi, the plains being 
separated by slightly rolling country between them. 



I 



I 



CHAPTER IX 

A HIPPOPOTAMUS POOL 

With our gun-bearers, we left camp at 5A5 a.m. 
in search for buffalo, and returned towards noon with- 
out seeing any. I had a wart-hog and a waterbuck, and 
Williams a wart-hog, two waterbuck, and a Coke's 
hartebeest. Williams found a lion spoor, and evidently 
there was a lion near by, but he could not find him 
although there were tracks in every direction and we 
felt much encouraged. 

The country swarmed with ticks, black flies, and 
ants, all of which troubled us greatly, the ants when we 
were in camp, and the ticks and black flies when going 
through the grass. In certain sections there were no 
flies at all, but when we were crossing small hollows and 
valleys they rose in clouds, reminding me of the midges 
which we have in our north woods during June. They 
got into the eyes and ears and caused the greatest dis- 
comfort. This section is also infested with the tsetse 
fly, which prevents the use of ponies. 

Our neighbors broke camp and left us that after- 
noon, going up the Tana, and advising us that they 
expected to return to Fort Hall. 

During the night we heard the curious, sighing 
grunt of lions in all directions. At daybreak next 
morning I started out, and within three hundred yards 

101 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

of camp got a snap-shot at a bushbuck, which I suc- 
ceeded in dropping. I skinned his head and sent the 
body and head into camp, then made a wide detour of 
the country in the hope of striking a lion. I failed in 
this, but succeeded in getting an impalla, a waterbuck, 
and the bushbuck, and I returned to camp late in the 
afternoon, well satisfied. 

I think that with the exception possibly of the duiker 
the bushbuck is the hardest animal to shoot which we 
encountered. As its name implies, it frequents the 
dense bush usually bordering on a stream, and does not 
come out to feed until late in the afternoon, and then 
with the greatest caution and examination of everything 
in sight. If alarmed, it gives one jump, and that is 
your last view of it, for it never leaves the proximity of 
the dense covering in which it spends the day. 

The bushbuck belongs to the harnessed antelope 
genus. Zoologically its nearest neighbors are the sita- 
tungas. The does are hornless, but the bucks carry 
a beautiful set of lyre-shaped horns, with a marked 
spiral twist. The height at the shoulders is about 
three feet, and they weigh about one hundred and 
fifty pounds. Those we shot were quite a dark brown, 
with small white spots over the flanks and rump. 
There are several species in Africa, and all have fine- 
bred looking faces, with intelligent and beautiful eyes. 
Unless one runs across them on the edge of the bush, 
where it is usual only to see the head sticking out, it 
necessitates a long and patient wait in the afternoon to 

103 




a 

-V o 

a. o 
s- 2 




A HIPPOPOTAMUS POOL 

locate him as he steps daintily out of his bush covering. 
As he rarely leaves the neighborhood where you have 
once seen him, you are likely to get a shot if you have 
patience and time. 

Upon approaching camp, I inquired for my bush- 
buck's head, and, in my dehght at having procured it, I 
commiserated with Williams upon his not having one, 
whereupon he produced from behind a tent one which 
he had secured that afternoon, and which was larger 
than mine by half an inch. He also secured his usual 
wart-hog and waterbuck. 

Sunday, January 12th, we got up a lion drive to 
work the section where we had been hearing lions ever 
since we reached our camp. The men strung over a 
long line, covering possibly three hundred yards, and 
Williams and I, with Mrs. Madeira alongside one or the 
other of us all the time, took positions at equal distances 
from the centre and the wing. Although we thoroughly 
beat a wide extent of country, our drive was 
unsuccessful. 

Later in the day I got a zebra and an impalla, and 
Williams his customary waterbuck. He was unable to 
recover two large wart-hogs which he hit, as they in- 
stantly ran down their burrows. They always back 
down into the holes, and most ridiculous looking objects 
they are when doing this. 

We decided that we could not get any buffalo in 
that country, so the following day we moved down the 
Tana River and found buffalo tracks near the junction 

103 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

of the Thika. As we did not care to camp in the exact 
hunting country, we went some three miles beyond, and, 
to our disappointment, found that in spite of their 
announced plans of going in the other direction, our 
former neighbors had preceded us and were in camp 
on the very spot that we had chosen for ourselves. On 
the way I shot an impalla, which, however, was not as 
fine as I had anticipated when looking at it through the 
glasses. 

We pitched camp at 10.30, and as a hippo pool was 
only about two hundred yards away, and the beasts 
could be heard booming and snorting, I walked down 
to get one. A most astonishing sight met my eyes. 
The river broadened out here into a pool about one 
hundred and fifty yards wide, and at the head were some 
shallows and quick water. The place was alive with 
hippopotami, how many it would be impossible to say, 
but certainly, as a conservative estimate, I would say 
that from fifty to a hundred heads of these enormous 
beasts were rising four or five inches out of the water 
at intervals of every few seconds. All the time they 
were emitting their peculiar snorting grunt, which can 
be heard for a great distance. Picking out the big- 
gest of the heads that I saw, I let go at it, but 
missed, as I could tell from the splash of the bullet on 
the water, for the head sank out of sight just as I 
pulled the trigger. I waited for the beast's head to 
come up again, and finally got him and also another 
one, not quite so large, and was back in camp in about 
half an hour. 

104 



A HIPPOPOTAMUS POOL 

When a hippo is hit he usually sinks instantly to the 
bottom, although one of those I shot struggled around 
and rolled over for a short time, as if not quite dead. 
About three hours later the men found them both drift- 
ing down-stream, and great was the excitement when, 
with ropes and tackle, the huge carcasses were secured to 
the shore and then rolled and dragged upon some rocks 
where they could be cut up. It took about forty men 
to get them to shore, and after I had photographed 
them the carnage commenced. 

I cannot describe the condition into which the men 
got while they were securing the meat, of which they 
are very fond. Some of them actually crawled inside 
the animal's stomach, and all were covered with blood 
from head to foot. We later got the hippos' heads to 
camp, where they were skinned and cleaned. Wherever 
one looked great masses of meat could be seen drying, 
and the men gorged themselves all night long. The 
next day many of them were sick, but in less than two 
days they had finished all the meat of these immense 
animals. Nothing was left except the ribs and the 
larger bones. 

This well-known and- most uncouth-looking of all 
the game animals is in many ways the gentleman of 
the animal kingdom. His life is one long, lazy loaf. 
He is even spared the customary effort most animals 
have to make to secure their food. He has no enemies 
except man, and possibly crocodiles when he is very 
young, so he floats through life in a most elegant and 

105 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

comfortable fashion. His track is readily distinguished 
from the rhino's by the fact that he has four toes, while 
the rhino has but three. His eyes and nostrils form 
the highest points of his head, so he can breathe wliile 
lying underneath the water, with a minimum amount 
of exposure. He is found usually in pools of good 
water, playing about after his ponderous fashion, while 
all the time making a loud, booming sound, which can 
be heard for a long distance. Whenever one comes to 
the top of the water, he blows through his nostrils huge 
jets like a fountain, with a sound like escaping steam. 
When playing around in a pool undisturbed their heads 
sometimes rise to a considerable distance out of the 
water, and they yawn, exposing cavernous mouths filled 
with huge molars and four tremendous tusks, the ivory 
of which is extremely hard. These tusks were once in 
great demand for artificial teeth. The lower tusks are 
the longer, and project from the jaw six or eight inches, 
sometimes more. One monster tusk has been found 
measuring on the outside curve sixty-four and a half 
inches from tip to tip, and forty inches is not excep- 
tional. Those I saw removed from the jaw reminded 
me of the beaver's cutting teeth, as they followed the 
same semicircle, giving tremendous purchase-power on 
the exposed point, the base of the teeth being in the 
back of the jaw. The upper and lower tusks grind 
against each other, making a sharp, smooth, cutting 
edge that can do great damage to a boat, and in fact, 
it is principally when travelling in boats that any 

106 



2. >? 

a O 

S *is 

s O 

CO 1^ 

a > 

J g 




A HIPPOPOTAMUS POOL 

danger from them is to be feared. The weight of a 
full-grown bull hippo is in the neighborhood of three 
tons, which is somewhat bigger than a rhinoceros. The 
hippo is almost covered with fat, the result of his lazy 
life. 

I had difficulty in taking care of and preserving the 
head skins, which I wished to have mounted, one for my 
own collection, the other for the National Collection of 
Heads and Horns in New York City. The great thick- 
ness of each skin and the amount of fat it contained 
rendered it difficult to dry them, and for a week the skins 
had to be pared and scraped and treated with all sorts 
of preservatives daily in order to prevent rotting, but 
they were both finally sent safely to London. The 
larger bull was a fine one, his lower tusks sticking out 
from his gum eight and three-quarters inches. As I 
am informed that there is twice as much in the gum as 
protrudes, this would make the entire ivory tusk twenty- 
six and one-quarter inches. 

While I was at the hippo pool in the afternoon, 
watching the butchering, one of our neighbors returned 
with a lioness which he had shot that noon. When 
wounded, she had gone into some bushes, and he had 
set fire to the grass to start her out. This fire spread 
over the whole surrounding country, and toward after- 
noon it began to threaten our camp. We got the men 
out and cut the grass in a wide strip between us and the 
fire, and were on the watch all night to prevent the loss 
of our equipment. Later, the wind changed and blew 

107 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

the fire in another direction, but great damage was done 
to all the surrounding country through the fire thus 
started. 

Later on, we heard a report that these two sportsmen 
had started a fire in another section of the country, 
burning up fifty square miles. It was said that when 
breaking camp they started the fire to drive all the 
game ahead of them. This is but a rumor, however, and 
I cannot vouch for it. 

Our neighbors had been shooting hippopotami on the 
morning of our arrival, and they must have killed quite 
a number, for when searcliing for the two I had shot we 
found a number of carcasses floating down the river. It 
seems a shame that these enormous brutes should be 
killed wantonly in excess of the license or the require- 
ments of food. 

As we were running short of flour and beans for the 
porters' food, we sent ten men back to Fort HaU for 
an additional supply, and left camp at seven o'clock the 
next morning. Williams made a detour back of the 
hills, which were quite high at this point, while we fol- 
lowed the river with the safari. We had heard from 
Captain Phillips, of the King's African Rifles, who had 
lunched with us the preceding day on his way into Fort 
Hall from his station, some ten miles lower down the 
river, that there was a ford of the Tana River a short 
distance below, and we hoped to cross and reach some 
territory which was supposed to contain buff'alo. 



108 



CHAPTER X 

SOMALI INJURED IN ENCOUNTER WITH BUFFALOES 

The Kikuyu guide left by Captain Phillips was un- 
able to locate the ford, so we failed to find it. We 
passed through a thicket of thorn which extended about 
three miles and closely fringed the river-bank. The 
difficulty in penetrating this vegetation is beyond de- 
scription. The thorns are not so large, but they look 
like small fish-hooks, and as the branches are long and 
willowy every movement which you make to extricate 
yourself when caught by one branch disturbs a lot of 
others, so that in an instant you are entangled in a mass 
of these hooks that catch your clothing and hold you 
fast, and you can do nothing but wait for relief to come. 
It is well called the " wait-a-bit " thorn. 

After passing through this thicket we saw fresh 
signs of buffalo, and finally reached an old, abandoned 
hippo-pool, where buffalo signs were thick. A large 
herd of them had apparently been down to the pool the 
preceding night. We pushed on past this place for 
about a mile, and camped near quick water, keeping the 
men very quiet and allowing none of the talking and 
the customary shouting that always accompanies a safari 
on its march. 

So far as we could see from the route which we had 

109 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

been following, near the bank of the river, the country 
around here was all thick bush. 

While camp was being made we heard rifle shots, 
and shortly after noon Williams came in and, to the 
delight of all of us, announced that he had secured his 
buffalo, and that there were plenty more left for me. 
He had found a lone bull a mile or two away from the 
river, had wounded him, and, following him up, had 
finally killed him. The buffalo was shot back of the 
shoulder, and apparently the bullet had gone straight 
through the heart, and jet it had required two more 
bullets to finish him. In spite of his wounds the animal 
had endeavored to cross a deep nulla and had fallen 
all the way down from the top and was lying at 
the bottom. Williams had followed him down there and 
administered the final shot. While he was examining 
his prize he was promptly charged by another buffalo, 
which dashed down the steep side of the nulla, barely 
giving him time to get out of the way, and then con- 
tinued on up the opposite side. When I saw the banks 
where this charge had been made, it seemed almost in- 
credible that such a bulky brute could have climbed up 
the sides, at full speed, which it had undoubtedly done. 
One of the gun-bearers had been left to watch the head 
and see that it was not ruined by hyenas and vultures. 

The entire camp was now greatly excited, for there 
was a whole herd in the neighborhood of the dead bull, 
only a march of an hour or so from camp. After a light 
lunch we started for the spot, taking with us three gun- 
no 



SOMALI IN ENCOUNTER WITH BUFFALOES 

bearers and some porters. When we got near the place 
where the dead buffalo lay we saw Esau, the gun-bearer, 
walking up and down and gesticulating frantically. He 
told us that while he was on the watch more buffalo had 
come to smell the dead one, and that he, perched in a 
tree, had driven them off by firing shotgun cartridges 
at them. They had all gone off in the direction of a 
large patch of bush in which, earlier in the day, he had 
seen others enter. 

Giving instructions to one of the Somahs about 
skinning the head of the dead buffalo, Esau piloted us 
in the direction of the herd. As we got a little closer, 
we found the bush opened up into glades here and there, 
the extent of them being from twenty yards in diameter 
to half an acre, and in some places it wa^s so dense that 
we had to crawl through on our hands and knees. The 
ground was like a red-hot stove, and the burning of the 
grass some time back had left a sharp stubble which cut 
hands and knees most painfully. 

After creeping around through the bush, we finally 
saw a number of buffalo, but I found it impossible at 
first to distinguish the bulls from the cows. A bunch 
of them were standing in the dark shadows, looking 
like big, indefinite masses. Soon I picked out one that 
I thought was a bull, about a hundred yards away, and, 
taking a good sight, fired. With the sound of the shot 
all the neighboring bush appeared to become alive with 
swarming beasts. Thej^ dashed out to the right and to 
the left in bunches of five and ten, passing us on both 

111 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

sides, and one lone bull came charging over the open 
space and crossed about twenty yards from where I 
stood. I gave him both barrels in the shoulder as he 
went by, but they did not stop him, so Williams gave 
him two more. I raced after the bull, and, finding 
liim badly wounded, put two more bullets into him, and 
he fell. Although I should not ordinarily have thought 
there was a ghost of a chance of his recovery, I did not 
wish to take even that small risk, so to make assurance 
doubly sure, I put two more bullets into his heart. 

I then heard Williams firing where I had left him, 
and rushed back to find that the balance of the herd 
were still charging in every direction. About sixty 
yards away a lot of them had lined up like a troop of 
cavalry, at the edge of the bush, and were snorting and 
bellowing. Things looked most unpleasant, for there 
must have been originally at least two hundred and 
fifty buffalo in that clump of bush. As soon as I 
reached Williams he called to me that the buffalo were 
about to charge and that we had better run for a tree. 
This we did, and awaited developments, but the threat- 
ened charge failed to materialize. 

The buffalo were very uneasy and were moving 
about, leaving the bush in groups and working in and 
out among it. Apparently they were so excited that 
the smell of a human being would be sure to cause them 
to attack, and for a person to meet them on foot would 
be most disastrous. 

We thought it best to let them quiet down, which 

112 




to & 

~ d 

e. IT] 

r. > 




SOMALI IN ENCOUNTER WITH BUFFALOES 

they did after a half-hour or so. Then our Somalis 
begged permission to hunt for the dead and wounded 
ones; for WilHams had been compelled to shoot when 
he was left in the open glade, and we could hear one 
or more moaning in the bush. 

After a while we permitted Ali Shirwa, Esau, and 
Baccari to take our .450's and make a reconnaissance. 
We cautioned them to be careful and not to go into the 
bush, and to be most particular about keeping watch for 
any stray buffalo that might be on hand. They had 
not gone more than a hundred yards and were in plain 
sight, shouting and making noises to drive the herd 
away, when, quicker than can be told, there was a rush 
of something black about twenty yards away from the 
men, and a cow and calf dashed among them. We saw 
a khaki-covered form go about ten feet up in the air 
and fall to the ground, then Esau dived into the bush 
on one side, and Baccari swung and fired both barrels 
of my rifle into the face of the cow, not even waiting 
to get it up to his shoulder, but shooting from the hip. 
The whole proceeding was almost instantaneous, the 
charge, the tossing of the man, and the rifle shots appar- 
ently all happening together. The cow, followed by the 
calf, dashed off in another direction, and then we saw 
Ah Shirwa rise, stagger a few paces, and fall again. 
We ran to him and found that he was badly hurt and 
covered with blood. We carried him some distance away 
to a tree, cut off his shirt, and examined his injury. 
The horn had entered between the second and third 

8 113 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

ribs on the left side, and had made a dreadful wound, 
from which protruded a large portion of the lung. 

We were now joined by Esau and Baccari, both 
badly scared and dreadfully torn by the thorns into 
which they had thrown themselves. Immediately a 
porter was sent back to camp to get a litter, and, as 
both Williams and I had field emergency bandages, we 
got the water-bottles, washed Ali off as well as we 
could, and bound up his wounds with antiseptic gauze, 
using our cloth puttees for the main bandage. After 
doing this, we moved him farther away from the bush, 
as we could still hear the buffalo. Moving him must 
have given him great pain, but he did not faint and 
made very little complaint of his suffering. He tried 
to make us promise that we never again would go after 
buffalo in bush country. I do not think he expected to 
get well, and I must confess that I did not either, he 
was so very badly injured. 

All this time the buffalo were still threatening, and 
we were much concerned as to what might happen to 
the porter on his way back to camp, and also as to the 
result of the excited announcement that he would make 
that some one was killed. This, of course, we knew 
was what he would say, for he had gone off without 
waiting to see the result of the accident. We feared 
Mrs. Madeira would come right out, thinking that either 
Williams or I had been hurt; and as many of the buffalo 
had gone in the direction of the camp, I knew that she 
would run great danger in coming through them in 

114 



SOMALI IN ENCOUNTER WITH BUFFALOES 

their excited condition. As ocular demonstration would 
be the best proof, I deemed it wise to run back to camp 
myself and assure her of the true conditions and extent 
of the accident. This I did as rapidly as possible. The 
buffalo were on both sides of me all the way along, and 
when I approached within a short distance of the camp 
I found they were all around in the thick bush surround- 
ing, for I could hear them as I went through. 

I met the porters coming out with the litter, and, 
upon reaching camp, explained the true condition of 
affairs. We prepared surgical dressings and antiseptic 
solutions, and in a short time Ali was brought in. We 
then proceeded to a more careful washing and dressing 
of his wound. Curiously, in spite of the extreme pain 
and weakness from loss of blood, he never fainted. We 
wished to give him some brandy to revive him, but the 
Somalis, being Mohanmiedans, will not touch spirits, 
and although we begged, pleaded, and threatened, we 
could not persuade him, nor would the other Somalis 
support us in giving him any. 

We did all that was possible to make him comfort- 
able that afternoon and night, making him a soft bed 
with all the available blankets, looking after his food 
and carefully taking his temperature. It was a pathetic 
sight to see the courage with which he bore his suffer- 
ings. During the afternoon I had the men construct a 
litter out of a hammock which we had carried with us, 
and made every preparation to send him to Fort Hall, 
where there was a doctor. Late in the afternoon Baccari 

115 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

and some of the men went for the buffalo head, and 
were promptly charged by some of the stragglers. 
They found my bull and a dead cow, and heard another 
that was apparently injured, but the latter was guarded 
by a sentry bull which would not let the men approach. 
Every time they got anywhere near, the sentry would 
snort and bellow and threaten to charge them, and as 
it was thick bush they could not see either of them. 
They managed, however, to secure the heads of both 
the bull and the cow, and brought them into camp late 
that night. Just before dark another effort was made 
to locate the wounded animal, but upon the slightest 
approach the warning snort and sniff gave signal that 
it would be dangerous to go nearer. The men said 
that they thought there were two wounded buffalo be- 
sides those which we got, but although we watched the 
place several days, we never could get near them. 

There are several species of buffalo on the Dark 
Continent, but the great Cape Buffalo, which is the one 
found in East Africa, is the finest of all, and, in my 
opinion, his head is one of the handsomest trophies to 
be obtained in the country. His huge mass of horn is 
magnificent. The horns join together at their bases, 
entirely covering the top of the skull, and spreading out 
in a very symmetrical formation. In the record speci- 
men the extreme outside width is fifty-three inches. 
The entire animal is black, with a very few similarly 
colored hairs covering him. He has a short, wrinkled, 
and rather wicked-looking face, with a great deal of 

116 



SOMALI IN ENCOUNTER WITH BUFFALOES 

character, and he stands about five feet high at the 
shoulder, and is of tremendous width and bulk. I can- 
not estimate his weight with any accuracy, but I should 
certainly think it must run close to a ton. From tip to 
tail he is the personification of brute force, and he is 
one of the fiercest and most vindictive fighters 
imaginable. 

Upon leaving, we advised some local natives that we 
would pay a reward for the recovery of the heads of the 
wounded buffalo, and as a favor Captain Phillips and 
Captain Pears both hunted for them, hoping to recover 
them for us, but they were never found. We were very 
glad when we had all three of the heads safely landed 
in camp that night, and I must admit that we had had 
about all the buffalo hunting that we wanted. The 
stragglers in the bush in the neighborhood of the camp 
could be heard even the next day, and I am sure I heard 
one in the thick bush near the river, within fifty yards 
of the camp. 

Our wounded Somali, Ali Shirwa, got through the 
night fairly comfortably and with comparatively little 
fever. At daybreak, he was started, with Mohammed 
Ali and six porters, on the journey to Fort Hall, where 
he arrived safely, after a trying trip of thirty-six hours. 
I am glad to say he speedily recovered, and was around 
as good as ever when we left Africa. 

Ali Mirra, my head gun-bearer, had his own experi- 
ence with buffalo. He was out hunting with an 
Englishman, who was charged by a wounded bull, and 

117 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Ali, in an effort to save his master, dashed at right 
angles across the path of the buffalo, thereby attracting 
the beast's attention to himself. He was caught and 
tossed, receiving a wound of the same nature as Ah 
Shirwa's. This act of heroism was performed before 
he had fully recovered from the effects of an encounter 
with a Hon, when with another sportsman. A lion had 
been shot and promptly charged the hunter, knocking 
him down, and standing over him, growling. Ali 
rushed up, and, having no weapon, grabbed the lion by 
the mane and endeavored to pull him off the prostrate 
man. The lion instantly turned and caught Ali through 
the hips, badly injuring him, but before the brave gun- 
bearer was Idlled there was time enough for some one 
else to come up and put a bullet through the beast's 
brain. 

When Ali started out with me he was just recover- 
ing from this last accident, and after a long, hard day's 
hunting he suffered a good deal from his wounds. 

After starting off our litter, another exploration 
was made to find the wounded buffalo, but the sentries 
were still standing guard. During the preceding night, 
a whole herd of buffalo had charged past the camp of 
our neighbors, who were close by us, and the charge 
created the greatest consternation, but fortunately, did 
no damage. In the afternoon more buffalo passed 
close to this same camp. 

The meat of the three dead buffalo had been 
brought into camp, so that for the time we remained 

118 



SOMALI IN ENCOUNTER WITH BUFFALOES 

the men had plenty to eat. We did no other shooting, 
our main object in getting to this point having been 
accomplished. 

As we were short of porters, we sent some of our 
supplies back to our old camp on the Tana, and then 
let the men come back for other loads. On January 
17th we broke camp (the elevation of which was 4,150 
feet), and after a hard march of five and one-half 
hours reached our old camp at the spot where we had 
first struck the Tana. 



CHAPTER XI 

MRS. MADEIRA LOST AND IN DANGER 

On our previous day's march, after leaving the 
buffalo camp, we found the country all burnt over and 
black as a result of the fire which our neighbors had 
started, and the damage extended for about ten miles. 
During the day I saw twenty-three rhinos, eleven of 
them in sight at one time, which was the greatest 
number I encountered in any one day during our trip. 
Most of those I saw had relatively small horns, and 
seemed less belligerent than those we subsequently 
encountered in Laikipia. 

Taking a track higher up on the hill, Williams 
flushed a black-maned lion accompanied by a lioness, 
shortly after leaving camp. They broke away when he 
was about three hundred yards off and disappeared in 
the bush, giving him a difficult running shot, which he 
missed. The only other game I saw during the day's 
march was waterbuck, which were numerous. 

At six o'clock on the morning of January 18th we 
crossed the Tana, being carried over on the porters' 
backs, or, rather, sitting high on top of their shoulders, a 
most uncomfortable and precarious position. Much 
amusement was created when my turn came, owing to 
my size, but we got safely over and started well ahead of 
the safari. Accompanied by our four gun-bearers, we 

130 



MRS. MADEIRA LOST AND IN DANGER 

proceeded along the trail on the south bank, heading 
for a short cut to the ^laharagua River, some eighteen 
miles away, which would leave but a three hours' march 
from there into Fort Hall on the succeeding morning. 

Following the river and trail for an hour or so, we 
discovered most interesting looking country lying to the 
left. In fact, it was so attractive that we wandered off 
from the main trail to explore it and see what game it 
might contain. I soon discovered a bushbuck, but the 
result of a standing shot was a shameful miss on my 
part. While beating up the bush in the hope of finding 
it again, we saw tracks of some giraffe, and as I 
had a permit from the Lieutenant-Governor to get 
one of these for scientific purposes, I decided to go 
after them. 

On account of the length of the march, Williams 
and Mrs. Madeira were to continue on the trail toward 
camp, having their lunch on the way. They expected to 
reach camp about half -past two or three. 

My stalk for the giraffe took me some distance to 
the left, and finally, I saw first one and then others, 
until seven were in sight. It was my first view of these 
stately creatures, and I was struck with their resem- 
blance to " church steeples on rockers " as they moved 
across the plains, their heads above the thorn-trees. I 
stalked them carefully, but two which were lying down 
and to my rear, and which I had not discovered, winded 
me, and started off on their long, rocking gait, which 
takes them over the ground in a most astonishing way. 

121 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

They picked up those I was stalking as they went by. 
I watched them for some distance across the plains, and 
decided to abandon the pursuit, as they were thor- 
oughly frightened and probably would not stop until 
they had put many miles between us. 

I then returned in the direction of the trail, passing 
through some fine game country, seeing a herd of about 
fifteen eland, and several troops of zebra. After a 
hard march, of which the last three or four miles was 
over rocky hills and ridges, I reached camp on the 
Maharagua River about half past two. The heat was 
intense, and we found no water from the time we left 
the Tana. 

Owing to the rough condition of the latter part of 
the road, I feared that Mrs. Madeira, who had not yet 
reached camp, might find the walk more exhausting than 
any of the others which we had taken, so I rigged up 
an improvised sedan-chair and sent some porters back 
with it in the hope that she could use it for the last few 
miles of the trail, although before she had always reso- 
lutely refused any assistance of this kind. 

The men left camp about three o'clock, and the 
afternoon passed without Mrs. Madeira's arrival. When 
six o'clock came I began to grow anxious, and sent out 
Ali Aden and another Somali with lanterns. No sooner 
had they left than the men with the sedan-chair returned 
and said they had found no trace of the party. This 
greatly alarmed me, for darkness was setting in, and it 
would be some time before the full moon rose. I im- 

122 



MRS. IVIADEIRA LOST AND IN DANGER 

mediately collected forty men and sent them out in 
couples in all directions. 

Williams had two gun-bearers with him: Farrar, a 
Somali, and Esau, a Swahili. They could hardly have 
lost their way, for Esau was thoroughly familiar with 
the country, hsiving served in the native police at Fort 
Hall, which was not more than three hours' journey 
from our camp. The dreadful conclusion, therefore, 
w^as that the party had been attacked by lion, rhino, or 
buffalo, and that at least two of the three men had been 
mauled or killed. In that case the best to hope for was 
that Mrs. Madeira and one of the gun-bearers were 
keeping guard over the injured men to drive off the 
hyenas, and as Williams usually carried but twenty 
cartridges — ten for his .450 and ten for his .350 — 1 
feared they might run out of ammunition and be in 
great danger of their lives. 

It was useless for me personally to hunt for them, 
for some one had to remain in camp and direct the 
search. At eight o'clock at night I sent a runner to 
Mr. Lane, the commissioner at Fort Hall, with the 
request that he send out the native police, and another 
runner to Captain de Crespigny, of the King's African 
Rifles, who was stationed some seven hours away down 
the Tana, asking him to turn out his force. The runner 
from Fort Hall returned during the night with a very 
kind letter of encouragement from Mr. Lane promis- 
ing that the police would be sent out immediately, and 
advising that he had sent word to Manda, the native 
chief of the district, to turn out all his men in the search. 

123 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

No one in camp slept that night. When one relay 
of searchers came in, another party set out, and every 
available firearm was being used to fire signal shots in 
all directions, in the hope of locating the lost party. 
I do not know which was the most dreadful solution of 
the many possibilities we evolved during the night. Our 
minds generally came back, however, to the first con- 
clusion: that two had been hurt, and that the others 
were keeping watch to drive off wild animals, as other- 
wise one of the gun-bearers would have come in to 
report. 

The safari were alarmed, anxious, and sympathetic, 
and the Somalis constantly came up to me with all sorts 
of suggestions as to what might have happened. Their 
efforts were well meant, but far from comforting. 
When they had discussed all the possibilities of trouble 
from lion, rhino, and buffalo, they tried to console me 
with the idea that in attempting to cross the Tana the 
party might have been swept away into the jaws of 
the crocodiles which infest the river! 

All night we walked up and down in front of the 
huge camp-fire, which was kept piled high with wood 
in the hope that the light might be seen for a distance; 
but the bright moonlight very effectually prevented the 
glare from being seen as it would have been against 
clouds. 

Just at dawn Mr. Long-Innis, Superintendent of 
the District Police at Fort Hall, appeared with his 
troop, and, after getting all the information I could 

124 




NEAR THE MAHARAGUA RIVER 



MRS. MADEIRA LOST AND IN DANGER 

give him, took thirty of my porters and Ali Mirra as a 
guide and departed over the back trail. 

Baccari was off at dayhght on his own account, and 
all the rest of the safari, as soon as they had rested a 
short time, resumed their trips in various directions. 
During the afternoon they all came stringing back into 
camp, discouraged and unsuccessful, none of them hav- 
ing found any trace of my wife and her companions. 
By this time we were all in a condition bordering on 
frenzy, for we knew that they must be suffering for 
want of water if alive; and the picture of one's wife 
and one's friend dying from thirst or wounds, and 
attacked by the dreadful, foul hyenas, grew more and 
more realistic in our minds. 

At five o'clock in the afternoon I sent another 
runner to Mr. Lane, begging for further help, as 
we now feared the worst and only hoped, if pos- 
sible, to recover the remains, or at least find out 
the truth as to their fate. I asked for a general 
alarm to be sent out throughout the country. With 
great kindness, Mr. Lane had anticipated me, for I 
think that he realized even more than I the various 
dangers, and during the morning had sent word to all 
the chiefs of the tribes in the neighborhood to turn out 
every native to help in the search. He advised me that 
there would be a thousand men engaged in scouring the 
country the following morning, endeavoring at least to 
find the guns and clothing if nothing more was left. He 
again wrote me the most kind and sympathetic letter. 

125 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

The letter read: 

Fort Hall, 9-15 p.m. 
Deau Mr. Madeira, 

I am indeed sorry to hear that Mrs. Madeira has not yet arrived 
in camp. I cannot think for a moment that the natives have had 
anything to do with their disappearance. I had all the Trans Tana 
people of Manda's division out searching to-day, and sent every 
available man from here. I was fully convinced that the party 
would have turned up by now, and am deeply grieved to hear that 
they have not. Luckman and Richardson are the only two left in 
the station, but they will leave here the first thing to-morrow morn- 
ing to help in the search. By to-morrow you will have Kibarabara 
and some of his men to help, and I will send out at once to get in 
as many natives as I can to go with the party. The news brought 
in to-day was that the party was seen yesterday at about midday 
near the Tana, on the far side of the hill on which the beacon is. 
They were then making in the direction of Punda Millia. They 
asked a native — at least, that is what he understood — where there 
was a ford to cross the Maharagua, and he pointed out the direction. 
Perhaps they have had difficulties in crossing, but, please God, they 
will yet reach you safely. With my greatest sympathy, 

Yours sincerely, 

C. R. W. Lane. 

You need not hesitate to command me in any way. I am doing 
and will do my utmost to find the party. 

C. R. W. L. 

I am making use of your boy Dheria to show where you crossed 
the Tana, and where you and the others parted. 

All day long I had kept up a heavy fire of green 
grass, making a tremendous column of smoke that 
climbed high into the sky and was visible at a very long 
distance. I thought this would attract attention and be 
a guide to where we were, if they were still alive. 

During the afternoon and evening the searchers kept 
going out and returning, but by late at night all had 

126 



MRS. MADEIRA LOST AND IN DANGER 

finally come in, unsuccessful, and we had abandoned 
hope. I sent Dheria, my tent boy, on my mule, to Mr. 
Lane again at eight o'clock that night, lending him my 
self-cocking revolver, as he was not expected to return 
till about midnight. Shortly before that, as we were all 
standing around the fire, steeped in gloom, we heard two 
shots in quick succession, coming, as we thought, from 
him, but far away. The reports came with such rapidity 
that they could have been made only by a self -cocking 
weapon. We immediately signalled in reply, thinking 
he had lost his way. The shots sounded far off, were 
repeated several times, and then ceased, and we thought 
he had lost us, owing to the fact that the camp was in 
the hollow among some hills, and the light of the fires 
could not be seen until one came within a mile of it. In 
order to help him locate us, we kept up at close intervals 
the customary signals of two shots in quick succession, 
and after a while we heard a signal reply somewhat 
nearer. 

Everybody in camp was awake, as they had been 
the preceding night. All were too heart-broken to 
sleep, and the kind sympathy which the Somalis and 
indeed all attempted in their rude way to convey to me, 
I shall not forget. 

We were standing there dejected and mournful 
when suddenly, out of the pitch-black darkness, we 
heard Mrs. Madeira's voice about a hundred yards off, 
and the party turned up at twenty-five minutes past 
midnight, utterly exhausted, but, fortunately, none the 
worse for their experience. 

127 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

At three o'clock in the morning Captain Luckman, 
from Fort Hall, came for final news, before sending out 
the thousand men on the succeeding day, and was de- 
lighted to hear that all were safe in camp again, except 
a few porters who still were out on their search. 

I had sent a runner to Mr. Lane the instant Mrs. 
Madeira arrived, notifying him that the lost party had 
returned, but, unfortunately, he had crossed Captain 
Luckman on the road. Later I received this very kind 
letter from Mr. Lane: 

Fort Hall, 21-1-08. 
Dear Mr. Madeira, 

Please accept my heartiest congratulations on the safe return of 
Mrs. Madeira. 

Your letter on Sunday night gave me the greatest anxiety. I 
knew that the party could not have come to any harm through the 
natives, and the only conclusion I could come to was that they 
had been drowned in trying to cross the Maharagua on their way 
here, 

I wrote you a long letter on Sunday night, and meant to send 
it to you by runner on Monday morning, but your letter arrived, 
and so I did not send it. 

I was sorry I could not see you when you came here, and am 
glad that I will now have the opportunity of making your acquaint- 
ance. 

I hope Mrs. Madeira is none the worse for her trying experience. 
Yours sincerely, 

C. R. W. Lane. 

The entire camp now slept as if it had been drugged, 
as for a night and two days everybody had been on 
their feet, and some of us had not eaten during the 
entire time. 

The story of their adventure begins with the time 

128 



MRS. MADEIRA LOST AND IN DANGER 

when I went off to hunt the giraffe the preceding day. 
They continued walking parallel to the trail through 
the country, which I have alluded to as being such a 
promising looking one for hunting purposes, and on the 
way they encountered bushbuck, eland, rhino, a big 
troop of baboons (of which they shot one), and various 
other animals. They also saw the tracks of all kinds 
of game. As they advanced, they got into a tall grass 
country, which gradually grew more and more hilly. 

About half past one they stopped for lunch, and as 
they thought they had but an hour's march to camp, and 
the intense heat had made them all thirsty, they drank 
all the water that had been in the one bottle, and gave 
the balance of their lunch to the gun-bearers. 

They rested until about half past two and then 
started for the camp. After walking for two or three 
hours they began to be worried. They could not strike 
the main trail, and they were getting terribly thirsty. 
The innumerable paths made by natives and by game 
all through the country make it very difficult to dis- 
tinguish one trail from another. That, however, soon 
became a matter of minor importance. They could 
not go on much longer without drinking, and their 
search for the trail developed into a search for water. 

About six o'clock they discovered a patch of green, 
indicating water, but upon approaching they found a 
pool which was too foul to drink, as a rhino cow with 
her calf had been bathing in it, and was on guard near 
by. They therefore abandoned any idea of obtaining 

9 129 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

a drink here, and made a detour to avoid the rhino. 
After proceeding some little way, they heard a noise 
behind them. They turned quickly and saw that the 
rhino had stalked them, and was then in the middle of 
the charge, not more than twenty or thirty yards away. 

Williams told Mrs. Madeira to step behind him, and 
gave the beast both barrels of his .450. It was a difficult 
shot, but fortunately he succeeded in dropping the rhino 
stone dead, although the momentum caused by the speed 
of the charge carried the monster in its slide to within 
ten feet of where Mrs. Madeira stood. 

After pacing the distance, which was as given above, 
they proceeded on their search for water, for even rhinos 
had paled into insignificance in comparison with the 
necessity of finding this. Night was commencing to 
fall, and the country they were in was covered with high 
grass, with here and there thick bush, in which rhino, 
buffalo, and lions would probably be found. They 
marched on and on through the night, which would seem 
incredible were it not for the fact that there was a full 
moon in a clear sky. The deep shadows gave the 
country a sinister look, but water was of such urgent 
importance that they had to go on while they could. 

Long before this their tongues had swollen and their 
hps had commenced to crack, and at 11.30 p.m. they 
could go no further, so stopped and made a fire under a 
tree. 

This night march through a wild country infested 
with the most dangerous animals known must have been 

130 



MRS. MADEIRA LOST AND IN DANGER 

a thrilling and nerve-racking experience. Every time 
there was a rustle in the grass or a sudden snort from a 
bush, imagination suggested that a lion, a leopard, or 
a snake was lurking in the deep shadows. One never 
would think of harmless antelope on such occasions. 

The gathering of firewood in Africa is not an un- 
mixed joj^ either, as axes are not carried, and one has 
to wander around and pick up dead branches or dead 
trees that are lying on the ground, or break off such 
sections of growing trees as may be available, and this 
often takes one far from the bivouac. 

After the lost party had gathered the necessary 
amount of wood, lighted their fire, and sat down to 
rest, they were promptly charged by a large herd of 
buffalo. Upon hearing the beasts coming, they im- 
mediately took refuge in trees, and during the night 
they were sent into this painful situation four times 
by these same brutes, which were evidently attracted by 
the firelight. Climbing thorn-trees is an uncomfortable 
proceeding even in daylight, but at night it becomes 
a positive torture, for the thorns vary in size from a 
small fish-hook to great spikes about five inches long, 
and it seems as if no part of the tree is not protected 
by these weapons. 

After the buffalo's last charge the place was deemed 
entirely too warm for comfort, so the fire was moved 
some distance away. Finally, at half past one, Mrs. 
Madeira lay down alongside the fire and immediately 
fell asleep in spite of the thirst. She had walked that 

131 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

day from six o'clock in the morning until half past 
eleven at night, with the exception of an interval of 
about an hour or an hour and one half for lunch. 
Williams and the two gun-bearers sat one on either side 
and one at her feet, armed and wide awake, keeping 
close watch while she slept. 

It was not long before a lone buffalo appeared and 
came within threatening distance, snorting and stamp- 
ing, and leaving great uncertainty as to what his future 
action would be. Finally, however, he disappeared, and 
peace reigned for a period. 

A little before dawn the three who were awake heard 
the grunting of a lion, first at a distance and then 
nearer and nearer, and finally the lion came close enough 
to be seen in the firelight. He proceeded to walk round 
and round the little circle of watchers, who revolved 
as on a pivot, with rifles ready, but not daring to fire, 
for fear that if merely wounded he would charge, and 
in the uncertain light a rifle-shot would not be safe. 

Thus the time passed until daybreak, when the lion 
withdrew. They at once proceeded on their march, for 
by this time they were suffering acutely from lack of 
both food and water, although the former was com- 
paratively unimportant. 

At about half past eight one of the gun-bearers 
suddenly stopped and shouted, " Punda Millia! " point- 
ing in the direction of some hills wliich were visible from 
the high elevation they were now on, and they saw that 
they had approached within a few hours of Messrs. 

133 



MRS. MADEIRA LOST AND IN DANGER 

Swift & Rutherford's ranch, at which we had spent 
Christmas almost a month before. 

Knowing now where they were, they promptly sent 
in one of the gun-bearers to the ranch for help, and he 
returned in a couple of hours with tea, food, and water, 
and also with a mule, which had very kindly been sent 
out for Mrs. Madeira. They were careful not to drink 
the water as soon as received, but made it into tea, and 
drank it so hot that they could not take much at a time. 
After refreshing themselves to this extent, they started 
for the ranch, which they reached at half past one. 

Just about the time they reached it my gun-bearer, 
Baccari, who had been scouting on his own hook all 
morning, arrived looking for them, and told them of the 
search and the conditions at camp. 

I do not know what was the distance they covered 
in this time, but it was subsequently estimated by people 
who knew the country as between forty and forty-five 
miles that day, of which the last six were the only ones 
that Mrs. Madeira did not cover on foot. The men had 
walked all the time, without food or sleep. 

The welcome which they received from Messrs. 
Swift & Rutherford was indeed a warm one, as runners 
with news of their loss had preceded them. They were 
urged to remain and rest, but they realized what my 
feelings must be, and after lunch they started to return 
to camp, guided by Baccari. 

They marched without stopping, except for tea late 
in the afternoon, and when they approached near where 

133 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

our camp was supposed to be, they were unable to locate 
it, owing to the geographical features of the land, which 
hid it from sight at a distance. It was their shots which 
I had heard about midnight, and they had been guided 
by mine in reply. The relief which they felt was, I 
presume, not so great as mine, for all the time they 
knew they were safe, except for water, whereas I had 
had no such comfort. 

The next day we spent resting, as neither travellers 
nof porters were in any condition to move. Our time 
was taken up in relating the adventures of the last forty- 
eight hours; and then for the first time did the wan- 
derers fully realize the danger they had passed through. 
The men had walked between sixtj^-five anl seventy- 
five miles without sleep, and a large part of the time 
without food or water, over country that was as difficult 
as almost anything that could be found outside of 
strictly jungle country. Mrs. INIadeira's walk will long 
be remembered by both the whites and the blacks, who 
stated that no such feat had ever before been performed 
by any white woman they had ever known, and, in- 
credible as it may seem, she was neither foot-sore nor 
exhausted, and was up early the next morning as well 
as ever. Her share of the performance was far more 
remarkable than the men's, great as that was, and bur- 
dened as they were with anxiety for her welfare. 



CHAPTER XII 

NATIVES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES 

The 21st of January saw us back again in Fort 
Hall, warmly welcomed by Mr. Lane, Mr. Skene, Mr. 
Long-Innis, and all those who had undergone so much 
anxiety during the last few days, and all of them came 
in for our warm and hearty thanks for their efforts in 
our behalf. Mr. Lane here told me of the letter of 
condolence he had written me, when on the second day 
he gave up all hope of the party's return. He beheved 
them drowned or killed by wild beasts. 

We sent back to Nairobi twenty-six loads of heads 
and skins, by porters whom we secured here, thus reliev- 
ing our safari of part of their burden- which they had 
been carrying for the last few days. We also reported 
the cow buffalo and the extra eland, which were con- 
fiscated and sent to Nairobi, where they were subse- 
quently bought in for me. 

Upon inquiry as to the return I should make for 
the trouble which the police and the officials at Fort 
Hall had been put to on account of our predicament, I 
was most generously informed that the only compensa- 
tion I would be permitted to make was the extra expense 
which the Government incurred on account of the field 
service of the police. In addition to this, the entire 
safari had backsheesh, which was graded in proportion 

135 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

to their services, and the result was that they had a 
grand time at the native bazaars which are numerous 
at the fort, but much to the disgust of all hands, we 
would not remain for a longer jollification than one 
day. We here secured porters to replace some of the 
worn-out men. 

In the evening we dined at Mr. Lane's, where all 
our experiences had to be related in full, and we were 
very kindly advised as to the next part of our journey. 
It was here that Mr. Lane explained why he was unable 
to permit us to shoot elephants on Mount Kenia. Tliis, 
however, did not mitigate our disappointment, as there 
was little or no opportunity for us to secure any on the 
rest of the trip which we had mapped out or to get in 
touch with this much sought game, and we therefore 
practically abandoned all hopes in regard to them. 

The following morning our road lay to Nyeri, and 
the day was one of the hottest, and the country the most 
hilly, that we had so far encountered. I had to lead 
my mule all the way, owing to his being so ill, the result 
of bad treatment on the part of the syce who brought 
him from Embo, and was urged to abandon him. I 
hoped, though, that the trouble was only temporary, 
which indeed it proved to be, for a week later I was able 
to ride him and he was as good as when he started. 

The road from Fort Hall to Nyeri, through the 
hills, is quite a broad highway, and on every side 
were crops of maize, millet, and beans, with here and 
there banana plantations. At the season we were there 

136 




ij' X ., Z^'' 



■ '^. 



A MASAI WARRIOR 



NATIVES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES 

the crops were all nearly ripe and as high as one's 
head. As we passed through, we would see no 
one for a long time, yet the hills resounded in all direc- 
tions with the cries of the boys driving the birds away 
from the crops. Occasionally they would be seen on the 
rickety platforms, having, apparently, a most lonely 
time, whistling and shouting and throwing stones at the 
birds. It was rarely that they would be seen keeping 
each other company. 

We reached the Wambaiga Rest-house in about six 
hours. The distance could be covered by rapid march- 
ing in considerably less time, but the day was so hot 
and the road so hilly, that it was impossible to make 
good time with the safari. Perched on top of a high 
hill near the rest-house is the Monastery of the White 
Fathers, conspicuous for miles around. This Order, I 
understand, extends all the way up to Algeria and 
covers the country, doing quite an amount of temporal 
good to the natives within reach of their ministrations. 
The rest-house here, built of stone and supported by the 
Government, was most comfortable, containing three 
or four rooms which are reserved for white travellers. 
It was thoroughly clean, and so, instead of pitching our 
tents, we had our beds made up inside the house. 

On the route we encountered a ceremonial party of 
youths about seventeen to nineteen years old, number- 
ing about a dozen. They were covered from head to 
foot with a white paint on which were inscribed various 
devices, mostly geometrical, in red and black. They 

137 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

were decorated with feathers and little metal bells, wore 
fur or feather anklets and huge masks of feathers cover- 
ing their heads, and carried wooden shields, painted and 
decorated, some with carvings. They were ghostly and 
ghastly looking objects, and danced around for several 
days in performance of this ceremonial until they were 
utterly exhausted. They blocked off the highway from 
us for some little time, until I took a stick and threat- 
ened to beat them, and by this means succeeded in driv- 
ing them out of our road and permitting the continuance 
of our journey. We frequently struck bands of them 
through the Kikuyu and Masai country. 

We found at the Rest-house a very large gathering 
of natives, and the entire safari had a most sociable 
time during that afternoon and evening. 

It might be well to give here my impressions of the 
various natives, even though my opinion has no scientific 
value. I shall describe them as they appeared to me 
though possibly not as they really are to the student. 

First in interest of all those with whom we came in 
contact, unquestionably was the Somali. This race, 
which has degenerated from the high state of civilization 
which characterized their progenitors thousands of years 
ago, still maintains many of the fine qualities that made 
it in the early racial history the important factor which 
it has been throughout Africa. 

According to eminent authorities, nine to ten thou- 
sand years ago, Arabia and Africa were probablj^ con- 
nected by land, across what is now the southern end of 

138 




KIKUYU WOMEN AND BABY 



NATIVES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES 

the Red Sea. On this land wandered people from India 
or some part of Asia, who settled on the east coast of 
Africa in what is now known as Somaliland and then 
penetrated farther to the west, through Abyssinia to 
Galiland, 

Running from the Red Sea in a southwesterly way, 
there is a huge gash in the surface of Africa, some ten 
to twenty miles wide and in places a mile deep, and 
which extends as far as the lake district. This is known 
as the great Rift Valley. In the migration westward 
through Abyssinia the Somalis undoubtedly found and 
followed this Rift Valley to the south, and, as they went, 
impressed a great many of their characteristics upon 
the native negroes existent at that time, traces of which 
are still visible in the finer features and racial traits of 
the Masai and possibly the Kaffir, and Zulu, which races 
have been the dominant and war-like tribes of the terri- 
tories which came under their sphere. 

These different tribes alluded to have all retained 
the pastoral and warlike traits of the Somali. They 
all have their flocks of cattle, sheep, and goats; they 
are all warriors and fighting men, and apparently none 
of these tribes have so far taken up the cultivation of 
the soil, any more than has the Somali, who undoubtedly 
brought with him, from whatever country he came from 
in Asia, the same traits and characteristics of warrior 
and shepherd. 

To the north, however, this Caucasian trace attained 
its liighest form. Travelling either down the Nile or 

139 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

northward on the coast, the Caucasians became in the 
early ages the masters and dominant forces in the de- 
velopment of the civilization of Egypt, which at that 
time was probably peopled by a negro type correspond- 
ing to the bushmen that existed in other parts of Africa. 
The strain of blood thus infused into the districts of 
the Nile became somewhat less distinct in the Sudan, 
where, however, the Sudanese benefited to some degree. 
The Abyssinian to-day approaches more nearly to the 
Somali than any of the other peoples brought under the 
dominant sway of this early race. The Somali is still 
the master among the native Africans, and we observed 
this in our travels wherever we came in contact with 
any of the native tribes, as all of them accepted him as 
their superior. 

The Somalis of to-day are Mohammedans, and most 
devout in the observations of their religion. Nothing 
disturbs their prayers, and nothing can tempt them to 
violate the rules of fasting and abstemiousness, which 
they carry out to a fanatical extent. They are cour- 
ageous to a degree beyond description, and for this 
reason are largely employed as gun-bearers, for one 
can be sure that they will never desert their master. 
Physically, they are tall and lean, with finely chiselled 
features and well-shaped heads. They are a dark choco- 
late color, sometimes black, with rather curly black hair, 
and, except for their features, might in appearance be 
taken for negroes. They wear their hair short as a rule, 
except those who let it grow long for exhibition pur- 

140 



NATIVES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES 

poses. The faces of many of them resemble Greek 
cameos, with thin Kps, thin nose, beautiful teeth, and 
well-shaped foreheads. Their hands and feet are small 
and beautifully shaped; in fact, they are little, if any, 
larger than the hands and feet of white women, and 
smaller than many of them. 

They are born travellers, traders, and linguists, and 
it is said that they are absolutely devoted to their master, 
though not, necessarily, to their master's friends. Their 
language is harsh, unmusical, and noisy. In disposition, 
they are proud, vindictive to their enemies, and, I have 
heard, cruel and fanatical. Most of the English resi- 
dents of East Africa dislike them, and in many dis- 
tricts the commissioners do everything that they can to 
dissuade safaris having Somalis in their company from 
entering into their jurisdiction. They complain that 
the Somali maltreats and abuses the native, robs him, 
and creates disturbance and trouble wherever he goes. 
We did not find them doing this, although later on we 
had considerable trouble owing to accusations made 
against them by Masai, which accusations were not 
proven. Personally, I liked some of them and disliked 
others, but there is no question that rf you want a gun- 
bearer who will stand near you and never desert you, 
you should secure a Somah. The imputation of fear is 
fiercely resented by them. 

Next in importance to the Somali as a tribe, are 
the Masai. This is the great warrior race of East 
Africa, and for years they have been the terror of all 

141 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

the less warlike and inferior tribes, as they support them- 
selves by raiding weaker tribes, stealing their women 
and their cattle and, in fact, all their possessions, and 
often murdering them. Indeed, certain sections of the 
country subject to then* raids have been entirely de- 
populated. Great wastes of fine land on which there 
is not a himian being to be found are sometimes en- 
countered and it is explained that the natives were 
driven out or killed by the Masai. 

Within the past few years the Government has 
moved them up to plains in Laikipia, which is the centre 
of their main territory, although a number will be found 
scattered all over different sections, as is the case at 
Embo, where the band of chiefs' sons formed Mr. 
Horn's punitive company. 

The Masai are much taller than the other tribes, 
lean, and comparatively well-featured. Their hair is 
generally tied into a little cue in the back and front 
with a leather tape, and they are covered from head to 
foot with a mixture of red clay and castor oil, which 
latter they extract from a native bean that grows wild. 
This oily paint is poured on top of their hair, which 
looks not unlike a floor mop tied into cues. The heat 
of the sun melts this paint, and it drips all over their 
faces and bodies, keeping them in a perpetual reddish 
state. 

The Masai are armed with long spears, shields, and a 
knob-kerries. The latter weapon consists of a stone 
about as big as an egg, over which a piece of hide is 

142 




^■'-^f^-*«*%^:? 



NATIVES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES 

shrunk, and then fastened to a short stick about eighteen 
inches long. It makes a dreadful war club. In addi- 
tion to these, they carry a knife about two feet long 
and of native soft iron, which has a sheath fitted to it, 
and, thus arrayed, they are encountered all through the 
country wliich they inhabit. Their clothes consist either 
of a piece of skin hung over the shoulder and reaching 
about to the middle, or a blanket or piece of " Mericani," 
as white cotton sheeting is called, draped the same way 
over the shoulder. This sheeting rapidly becomes, as 
does all the rest of their equipment, the same brick-red 
color. 

The Masai women all have their heads shaved', and 
their costume consists of an apron, usually of hide, tied 
around the waist, with sometimes another loose piece, 
formed something like a waistcoat, around their body, 
but this is unusual. They ai*e covered with copper, 
brass, and steel wire, which is wi-apped around the legs 
from the knee down to the ankle, and the arm from the 
wrist to the elbow, and then above the elbow up as far 
as the armpit. Around the neck a huge disk of this 
heavy wire is coiled, and from the ears are suspended 
copper disks about four inches in diameter, which hang 
down over the breast. 

Both the JNIasai and the Kikuyu perforate the ears 
and stretch these holes in the lobes to such an extent 
that I have seen them take the lobe of one ear over the 
top of the head and loop it under the ear on the other 
side. A favorite ornament to put through these holes 

143 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

in the ears would be a Dundee jampot. Nothing comes 
amiss, from a huge roll of bandaging linen an inch and 
a half in diameter to innumerable strings of beads, wire 
rings, and curious bunches of sticks. Anything that they 
can get to stay in their ears seems to be considered an 
attractive and desirable ornament. 

According to an eminent authority who spent many 
years studying tribal conditions, the Masai have adopted 
a curious one for the preservation of their race. When 
the boys reach the age of from seventeen to nineteen, 
they become warriors, and they continue in that class 
until they are about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. 
During this period they are not permitted to marry, but 
are kept in a camp together. As, of course, the pres- 
ervation of their tribe depends upon guarding the 
young girls and women from raids by neighboring 
tribes, the young women are kept under the care of the 
warriors or fighting men, and they all live together in a 
very promiscuous and, from our standpoint, immoral 
way. The result, however, is that the children are 
fathered by the fighting men in their prime and strength, 
and they are by this means practically benefited by 
selection of type and species. 

After the age of twenty-seven, when they cease to 
be warriors and become married men or elders, they then 
take to themselves regularly recognized wives, the num- 
ber depending upon their wealth and possessions in 
cattle, sheep and goats. A wife is purchased for three 
or four sheep, which are given to her father. A Masai 

144 



NATIVES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES 

can apparently have as many wives as he is able to 
purchase. They do the manual work in all particulars, 
building the houses, taking care of them, and tending 
the young of the flocks ; and the same custom prevails 
among other tribes: the women do all the work, while 
the warriors merely look on and direct them in their 
manual labors. 

Next in prominence to the Masai of the tribes which 
we encountered were the Kikuyu. They are far inferior 
to the Masai, being not warriors, but farmers. They 
live in small communities of from half a dozen to a dozen 
huts together, grow small patches of grain, either maize, 
millet, or beans ; and have banana and pineapple plan- 
tations, but all under the most primitive circumstances. 
The Kikuyu men are much smaller and much less hardy- 
looking than the Masai, and can carry, as porters, only 
about forty pounds. Their costume is not much differ- 
ent from the Masai, for they copy many of the latter's 
characteristics, a state of affairs partly due to the inter- 
mingling of the races. They reside mostly to the south 
and east of Mount Kenia and on the slopes thereof. The 
Kikuyu women are not so much decorated with jewelry 
as are the Masai, and are also much smaller. 

The next tribe in importance that we encountered 
is the Wakamba, who, apparently, reside to the south 
of the Tana and east of the Kikuj^u. This is a tribe 
with, possibly, some intermingling of Kikuyu in them. 
I saw only a few of them, and they seemed to me more 
intelligent than the KikujTi, and of a somewhat superior 

10 145 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

race. I do not know if this be universal, however. They 
use poisoned arrows and hunt a httle. Those that I en- 
countered were of medium size, rather keen and alert 
looking, and I believe have not yet been thoroughly 
brought under subjection to the Government. Our head 
porter, Baringo, was a Wakamba, and an extremely 
intelligent man he was, for the class. His features 
approached more those of the Masai than the Kikuyu, 
and he was expert in the manufacture of bows and 
arrows, and keen for hunting, which the Kikuj^i were 
not. The latter's principal keenness is to obtain meat. 

The Wandorobo appeared to be a sort of outcast 
class, living entirely by hunting. We found some of 
them up near the junction of the Guaso Nyiro and 
Guaso Narok, where there was a large village. They 
hunt entirely with poisoned arrows, and follow the chase 
exclusively. A life such as theirs naturally brings more 
alertness than does the farming life of the Kikuyu, and 
those that I saw showed the effects. The village which 
I visited was well fenced in, like a Masai encampment, 
but was fearfully dirty and smelled terribly. I could 
not get away quickly enough. They had a few goats 
and sheep. The men were mostly all away hunting, 
and on our journey we encountered some of them in 
most unexpected places in thick bush and dense forest. 

The arrows which are used by all four of these tribes 
are beautiful pieces of worlananship, having soft iron 
heads, filed into various shapes of barbs that would be 
almost impossible to withdraw from a wound, and 

146 




t ^^ 






#Vf 




NATIVES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES 

would, I should think, be better if pushed through to 
the other side, if necessary to extract. The poison which 
is used is a vegetable gum of intense strength, and is 
not put on the tip of the arrow itself, but on a detachable 
shaft which is left in the wound when an attempt is 
made to withdraw the arrow by holding the main shaft. 

We saw but little of the Uganda and Nandi. The 
latter we encountered at Muhoroni, at the foot of the 
Nandi hills, near the lake, but they did not impress me 
as being of a high class, and reminded me more of the 
Kikuyu than of any of the other tribes. 

The Swahili whom ome encounters at the coast and 
who is the important porter, has some Arab blood in 
him, I think. He is a strong, well built, and rather fine- 
looking negro, very black, and showing absolutely no 
trace of mixture, but the infusion of the Arab blood 
may account for the strong physique. The language is 
different from the others, and is the softest and most 
musical that I have ever heard. I do not think that even 
Italian compares with it, and it is markedly at 
variance with any of the languages that one hears among 
other tribes. 

All the Swahilis I saw were engaged in labor, either 
as porters or in similar work in ^lombasa or Nairobi. 
They seemed to be the beasts of burden, and are cer- 
tainly the most desirable of all the tribes for this pur- 
pose. In our camp the Wakambas were the most 
quarrelsome, and their tent was constantly a hotbed of 
fighting and disturbance. They were great bullies, and 

147 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST APRICA 

seemed ready to fight with all the rest of the caravan 
on the slightest provocation. 

They do not seem to be sensitive to pain and their 
dental surgery is most primitive. If they have a tooth- 
ache, they cut around the tooth with a knife, and pry it 
out with any strong instrument they can get, such as 
the end of a file or a knife blade. One can only imagine 
what torture it would be to civilized human beings to 
have such barbarous surgery in connection with such a 
sensitive object as a tooth. 

DiiFerent tribes have varying customs in regard to 
the teeth. Some of them extract two of the front teeth, 
possibly so that in case of lockjaw food can be admin- 
istered, and possibly — and more likely — because it is 
considered a decoration. Some of the natives file the 
teeth into sharp points like a saw, removing all the 
enamel and leaving nothing but the bone exposed. 
Their teeth are as sharp as needles when so treated, 
and, of course, are yellow from the destruction of the 
enamel. 

They were constantly coming to headquarters to 
complain of such pain and ask for medicine to reheve it. 
We had some toothache drops, but these latter were not 
taken along with anticipation of any such conditions as 
we met. The result was that there was but little relief 
we could give to this very common complaint. 

Naturally, among the native members of the ex- 
pedition, illness was not uncommon, usually occasioned 
by overloading their stomachs with meat. Almost daily 

148 




KIK I •! i \\ ( iMI.N 



NATIVES AND THEIR PECULIARITIES 

we had a sick-call in the evening, when the men would 
report for medical treatment. With some it must have 
been a habit, others must have thought it fashionable, 
for there were many bogus complaints which were cured 
with nothing more serious than a sparkling cup of 
Eno's fruit-salts. But fever was by no means un- 
common, and had to be treated with large doses of 
quinine. If we gave them sugar-coated pills, they did 
not seem to be appreciated, and we finally learned to 
given them powdered quinine, of which we had a con- 
siderable quantity. Its very violence convinced them 
that it was " good medicine," and thus we were able to 
save our own preparations in case of personal require- 
ments. 

There were many native women here, apparently 
seeking employment, for the next day we found that 
half of our porters had hired these women to carry their 
loads, paying them about a cent for the performance 
of their work during the next day's march. The 
strength of these women was remarkable. Many of 
them were extremely small, not over five feet one or 
two inches, yet they carried the loads of these big 
Swahili porters, and trotted off with them as easily as 
the men did. Some of the women carried the loads on 
their backs, with a strap or " tump " line going over 
their heads, but most of them put the loads on top of 
their heads. 'Apparently the different tribes have dif- 
ferent methods of carrying. 



149 



CHAPTER XIII 

CAMPING AND ITS INCIDENTS 

Now came the first rainy day that we had had for 
three months, and the steady drizzle made the path 
extremely slippery, the soil getting into a condition like 
soft soap and clogging up the shoes. If one was not 
careful, an upright position was difficult to maintain, 
especially going up and down hiUs, which became less 
steep as we got further away from the rest-house. We 
had quite an uncomfortable trip in the beginning of the 
day, but later the sun came out, making things better, 
and finally we saw the fort from a distance over the level 
plains. The elevation of Nyeri is about six thousand 
feet, and at night the weather was quite cold. We 
immediately called upon Mr. Silverad, the assistant 
District Commissioner, and also met Lieutenant Damm, 
of the King's African Rifies, a company of the latter 
being stationed at this fort. The latter dined with us 
that evening, and related an experience he had had with 
a giant pig; at least, he felt sure that he had succeeded 
in killing one of these much sought after animals. 

He had encountered, not far from Nyeri, a wart-hog 
which had gone into some bush, and after crawling after 
it for a long distance on his hands and knees through 
a tunnel in the bush, he suddenly came face to face 
with an enormous brute which he instantly decided must 

150 



CAMPING AND ITS INCIDENTS 

be a giant pig, and which he shot at a distance of a few 
feet. He told us that he had sent the skin to London, 
for determination as to its species. There has been a 
great deal of effort on the part of sportsmen to secure 
specimens of this much discussed animal, but very few 
records of him have been obtained, except pieces of 
hide and descriptions by the natives. Two sportsmen 
were with us on our way out for the sole purpose of 
trying to get one on Mount Elgon. Some months 
later, while in London, in Rowland Ward's shop, I hap- 
pened to see a skin which was shown with great satis- 
faction as being that of a giant pig, and upon inquiry 
I found that it was the identical one which Lieutenant 
Damm had shot and had described to me. 

We met here a safari coming from Rumeruti and 
Lake Baringo, and were told that numerous parties 
w^ere ahead of us, and that there was no game to be 
found in the territory over which we were intending 
to travel. Our informant had seen innumerable lions, 
but had been unable to get a shot. Of other game, he 
told us, he had seen none. This was discouraging, but, 
after giving the matter due consideration, we decided 
{o break our marches so as to avoid the customary camps 
and halt at intermediate points. The result justified 
us most thoroughly, for we found plenty of game and 
good specimens, but only by careful and most pains- 
taking work, and by hunting far from the customarj'' 
route. Apparently some of our informants had rushed 
over the country without seeking game off the beaten 
track. 

151 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Mr. Silverad advised us in regard to the country 
we were going through, and, following his instructions, 
we left on January 24th for Sungari Hill. En route 
we saw no game whatever, the country being full of 
Masai cattle. The commissioner advised us to take 
guides whom he highly recommended, and permitted 
one of his police to accompany us about three miles 
from the fort to a Masai encampment, where we picked 
up these guides, who accompanied us for several days 
and showed us our way to the various camps. 

During the day the weather was quite pleasant and 
at night very cold, the temperature going down to 50° 
in the tent, and my aneroid gave the altitude as about 
6950 feet. The records given by this instrument, I 
regret to say, were only relative and subject to baro- 
metrical change, for I only had one, and was unable to 
correct it by comparison, therefore can only give 
approximate heights. 

Camping at the fort was very pleasant and it may 
be of interest to describe the usual safari life. 

Immediately upon reaching a camping place, the 
headman would select a spot upon which our tent was 
to be erected, and the porters, carrying this equipment 
and our personal outfit, would deposit their loads in its 
vicinity. A certain number of men were delegated to 
erect the tent, and it was done with great rapidity. The 
bundles containing it were unfastened, and the tent 
stretched out by four or five men. Two of the askaris 
then put the tent poles together and elevated the tent, 

152 



CAMPING AND ITS INCIDENTS 

and about ten men took hold of the guy ropes, fixed the 
pegs in the ground, and held the tent in position while 
the pegs were driven home and the guy-ropes drawn 
taut. Two others immediately took the floor-cloth and 
spread it, and in an incredibly short time the tent was 
erected. While this was going on, the tent boys un- 
packed the bed rolls and were busily engaged in making 
up the beds and opening the collapsible furniture. By 
the time that they had this done, the tent was ready to 
have the beds carried in, and the whole place made 
habitable. It could not have taken more than five or 
six minutes for this to be done. They then erected their 
own tents, which was an easy matter, and the whole 
camp was arranged within a short time after reaching 
our destination. 

The best tent boy we had was Dheria Ahmud. He 
had been on many safaris, and in some of the former 
ones had been well trained in the duties of looking after 
a lady's comfort, as he did with us. My own tent boy, 
Mahomet, was poor, and Dheria had to do the bulk of 
the work, as well as direct Mahomet in his duties. When 
we arrived in camp these two fixed up the tent, and in 
the afternoon, when we were out hunting, they laid 
out the warm clothes for evening wear, which were 
always carefully brushed, the shoes polished, and the 
leather puttees carefully cleaned. We would generally 
get back to camp about dark, when they would have 
plenty of hot water ready for our baths, after which 
they took the hunting clothes, dried them if wet, brushed 

153 



\ 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

them clean, and at times pressed them with an iron which 
they carried. Then they were folded and placed in the 
tent, ready for use the following morning. 

If we got back to camp at four or five o'clock, they 
ahvays had tea ready for us, and they waited on us at 
meals, serving at table with considerable skill, Dheria 
often decorating the table with wild flowers. They were 
on very good terms with our cook, Warfu Yusuf, 
another Somali, who was a great character. We were 
told that he had some six or seven wives in Somaliland, 
and many thousands of sheep and cattle, in fact, was a 
" very rich man," but he preferred safari life and the 
hard work of cooking to living home in his own 
country. He was as black as the ace of spades, and 
always had a red handkerchief tied around his head, 
flapping in the wind like a veil. He used to appear at 
our tent every morning before we started out, and ask 
what we wish to have cooked during the day, describing 
the larder and supplies on hand. He was the best field 
cook I have ever seen, having a wonderful intuition 
about seasoning, as well as being an expert on many 
dishes, some of them having been better than I have 
ever tasted elsewhere. For instance, he made the very 
best of curries, and we found out from him where he 
got his curry powder, which was a special brand that he 
insisted upon us getting. In cooking rice, which is one 
of the staple articles of food of the Somali, he also 
excelled. With a very limited variety of vegetables, he 
made each evening a soup that was delicious. He was 

154 



CAMPING AND ITS INCIDENTS 

far above the average on cooking meats, and he made 
excellent puddings with the limited ingredients at his 
command, such as corn-starch, rice, etc. Of course we 
were able to obtain eggs whenever we were near natives, 
for they all had flocks of chickens, and the first ex- 
cursion which Yusuf would make upon arriving at camp 
was to any nearby village where he would purchase a 
supply of eggs and usually some chickens. The latter 
he would keep alive until he wished to use them. Should 
we march before that time, they would be carried along 
with their legs tied together, perched on top of some 
porter's load, or else danghng by the legs in Yusuf's 
hand. They were passive birds and rarely made any 
noise or complained of their uncomfortable position. 
If they had been carried on the march, when we arrived 
at camp they would be put on the ground and some food 
thrown within their reach; for they could not move on 
account of their legs being tied together. 

For breakfast we would usually have oatmeal, eggs 
with ham or fresh meat, potatoes, coffee, tea or choco- 
late, and jam. If in camp at lunch, we had meat, 
canned vegetables, stewed fruit or other sweet. But 
dinner was the important meal. Yusuf started it with 
a rich and most dehcious soup, then we had chops with 
potatoes, canned peas, beans, tomatoes, corn, or maca- 
roni — at least two of these — then possibly a roast or a 
bird of some kind, with a pudding garnished with jam 
or stewed fruits, and followed by crackers, cheese, and 
coffee. 

155 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST APRICA 

It might be imagined that the cooking and serving 
would be poor, but both were uncommonly well done, 
and this fact, added to ravenous appetites, left us noth- 
ing but praise for Yusuf and his department. His 
bread was excellent, and he used to make it with sour 
dough instead of baking powder. Some times he made 
little tea biscuits, as dainty and palatable as can be 
secured in any pastry shop. 

To the west of the Sungari Hill, where we first 
camped, huge plains stretched off as far as the eye 
could see, and in every direction were herds of Masai 
cattle. Game appeared to be very scarce, if indeed 
there was any at all. In searching for game the follow- 
ing morning, in some thick bush country which lay to 
the southwest, I was astonished to see a solitary horse- 
man riding around and around a clump of bush. Ap- 
proaching, I found him to be an English sportsman, who 
had chased a honess into cover and was keeping watch 
over the bush to see that she did not escape. His story 
was that while dressing in the morning he had seen from 
his tent two lions on the skjdine, and without waiting 
for his gun-bearers or rifles, had jumped on his pony 
and started after them. After a long chase the Hons 
separated, and upon following up one of them he dis- 
covered that by mistake he had pursued the lioness. He 
followed her closely, gaining all the time and the entire 
run had been nearly five miles. Towards the end he 
stated he had not been more than twenty-five yards 
behind her, and she was apparently exhausted. She 

156 






g a 



S w 




^■**>, 



..^1^ 




1^ -.^J-^ 




CAMPING AND ITS INCIDENTS 

had taken cover in the bush which he was now watching, 
and he was waiting the arrival of his gun-bearer and an 
extra pony. As the latter did not appear after some 
little time, I joined him in a general beat of the sur- 
rounding bush, which was quite thick, but we failed to 
find the beast, she having evidently sneaked out and 
escaped. It did seem to me somewhat questionable to 
saddle a pony and start off from camp without any fire- 
arms, on a pursuit of this kind, and I could not help 
wondering whether this was the way he had hunted all 
through his trip from Baringo, and had so failed to 
secure any game, which was the story he had to tell us 
of his experiences. 

Later in the day, I encountered some impalla, a fine 
wart-hog, and several steinbuck, and bagged two of the 
latter. The impalla I tried very hard to secure, as there 
was a magnificent buck among them, but he was too 
wily, and would not permit me to get near him. In the 
search for liim through some dense bush, I almost fell 
on top of a rhino which had been making himself com- 
fortable in a pool of water in the ravine that I had to 
cross. I think he desired a closer acquaintance, but I 
did not, and managed to get out of his way without a 
serious encounter. 

The country from the Sungari HiU north to the 
N'gari Rongee River, our next camp, consisted of these 
rolling plains on which the grass had been cropped close 
and which the sun had burned as dry as a bone. The 
only game we found were Jackson's hartebeest, zebra, 

157 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Tommies, and myriads of marabou storks. I had the 
hard luck to wound one of these Jackson's hartebeest, 
without being able to recover it. They were the first 
that we had seen. They are far larger and finer looking 
than the Coke's, which we had been accustomed to up to 
this time, and which here were entirely absent and were 
not again encountered during our trip. The Jackson 
and Neumann were the only ones that are found in the 
country over which our route now took us. Between 
the N'gari Rongee River and the Buyout River, which 
we reached on January 28th, we had our first sight of 
beisa, or oryx, as this animal is generally known in 
East Africa, one of which came into view while I was 
stalking some Jackson's. I at once proceeded after him, 
but found that he was crossing in front of the main 
safari, far away to my left, and getting on the side of the 
road on which Williams was hunting. The latter im- 
mediately spied him, and, having a much better oppor- 
tunity to get a good stalk than I should have had, he 
went after him. After a very long chase, during which 
he shot several times, he finally brought him down, hav- 
ing told with five bullets from his .450. With two legs 
broken the beast had led him a chase of over two miles 
directly away from the camp, which I reached long 
before he did. Great was the delight of the safari 
when one of the porters came in to report that the Saliib 
had finally bagged this splendid antelope. He was a 
fine-looking bull, and the horns very heavy and in good 
condition. The usual jollification occurred y.heii the 

158 



CAMPING AND ITS INCIDENTS 

meat was brought into camp, for it had been many days 
since the safari had had any. 

In the afternoon I proceeded after orjrx, which are 
here somewhat plentiful, but found them very wild, and 
the only opportunity I had was a long shot, resulting in 
a miss. Later on I encountered another herd of about 
a dozen, and accompanying them, but directly in my 
path, a herd of zebra and two Jackson's hartebeest. I 
had a most difficult stalk to get over the brow of a 
slight rise, on account of the zebra occupying the top, 
but I succeeded, after great patience, in passing them 
within a distance of about twenty-five yards, and with- 
out starting them off on their usual wild scamper of 
alarm. They watched me curiously but apparently 
without any fear, and as I paid no attention to them I 
succeeded in getting past. 

The main body of the oryx had disappeared by this 
time, leaving a lone one which was moving off follow- 
ing the main herd, but the hartebeest were still undis- 
turbed and so far had not noticed me. Just as I was 
proceeding after them two rhinos came s^\^nging along, 
one from the right and one from the left. While the 
wind was favorable for me with one of them, it was not 
with the other, and I was uncertain as to what their 
direction would be and how soon they would discover 
me, for I was lying out on the bare surface of the 
ground, with no cover whatever. I flattened myself 
out as much as I could, and watched developments. 
First one of these brutes commenced to approach me 

159 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

and then the other, and their movements were appar- 
ently attracting the attention of the hartebeest, until, 
being unable to stand the delay any longer, I fired at a 
hartebeest and succeeded in dropping him, a very fine 
bull, measuring twenty-two inches. At the sound of the 
shot the rhino became disturbed, one of them galloping 
off and the other assuming a threatening attitude, en- 
deavoring to locate me. After some little time, he 
abandoned the search and disappeared, and we recov- 
ered the hartebeest head and meat and returned to camp. 

This particular hartebeest, wliich, as I state, I 
had shot as a Jackson, was subsequently decided by 
authorities as a Neumann, although it must have been 
nearly a hundred miles away from the territory where 
the Neumanns are located. The two which I saw 
must have been stray specimens far from their 
customary habitat, and where one would never expect 
them to be. They are a little smaller than the Jackson's, 
and of a lighter color, and their horns branch off at 
the base at a wider angle than the Jackson and have 
the rings or corrugations nearer to the point of the horn. 
They are about forty-eight inches high at the shoulder. 

Daybreak the next morning found us out seeking 
oryx, which was one of the principal animals we were 
after in this district. I saw numbers of them, but could 
not get near, and their actions confirmed all the warning 
statements which had been made to me that they were 
difficult to approach. They certainly were here, but no 
doubt they had been much hunted, they were as wild as 

160 



CAMPING AND ITS INCIDENTS 

hawks. I also saw a number of rhinos, and zebras, and 
Tommies in hundreds, but neither of us succeeded in 
getting a shot at an oryx. The next day, therefore, we 
broke camp and marched to the northwest, locating 
near a swamp that looked promising for game, and 
which lay close to the Guaso Nyiro. At this point, 
Kenia lay to the southeast of us, and loomed up with 
its beautiful snow-covered peak, apparently not more 
than fifteen to twenty miles away. The plains we were 
on practically formed the foothills of the mountain. 

During our day's march we had seen nothing but 
Tommies and zebras, but signs of lion had become 
numerous, and the bare plains were replaced by thick 
bush country, with plenty of good running water. It 
was the most attractive-looking game country that we 
had encountered since leaving the Tana, and our camp 
was pitched in a beautiful spot. The weather was cool 
and pleasant. My aneroid located the camp here about 
7200 feet altitude. The thermometer dropped low 
during the night and in the morning the ground was 
covered with hoar frost. 



11 



CHAPTER XIV 

GOVERNMENT PROTECTION OF NATIVES 

We had here our first serious official difficulty. As 
I have stated, when we were in camp at Sungari Hill 
there were some native flocks belonging to the Masai 
covering the plains, and we had been in sight of another 
hunting party passing through on their way to Rum- 
eruti from the Guaso Nyiro and Baringo. In the 
morning two old Masai came into camp and stated that 
during the preceding night our Somalis had stolen and 
killed one of their sheep. They pointed to a spot not 
more than two or three hundred yards away from where 
our tents were pitched as the place where the deed had 
been committed. All three of "us had been sitting up, 
talking, on that particular evening until nearly eleven 
o'clock, and should of course have observed the light of 
a fire or the absence from camp of the Somahs, whose 
tent was so near ours, that the noise of their conversation 
was constantly audible. We had started our hunting 
next morning at dawn, and were consequently aroused 
about half past four. The Somalis were in camp then, 
and tliis would have left them but four or five hours to 
have their feast. As the men were with us both the day 
preceding the alleged crime and the day following, they 
would have had no sleep, yet they showed no traces what- 
ever of fatigue. We had never found them to engage 
in such practices, and we did not believe that the Masai 

163 




51??^***'^' 




■-.'■■■. 






GOVERNMENT PROTECTION OF NATIVES 

were telling the truth. The only " evidence " that the 
latter produced was a piece of skin of the sheep in 
question, wliich might just as well have been killed by 
a hyena as by the Somalis. Therefore, after questioning 
the Somalis and the other men in the camp, we refused 
to consider the Masai's claim for recompense, telling 
them that our men had not stolen their sheep, and bade 
them be gone from the camp. 

At one of our camps, about three days later, the 
same old Masai and his companion, accompanied by two 
askaris from Fort Nyeri, marched up and demanded 
audience. They repeated their claim for damages. We 
organized a court, and heard their charges, one of our 
Masai porters interpreting for them through a Swahili. 
We had tliis checked up by interpretations through our 
tent boy, Dheria, whose integrity and honesty were un- 
questioned from all experience we had with him. After 
giving the matter the most careful investigation, we 
again came to the conclusion that the Somalis were not 
guilty. The entire testimony was listened to by the 
askaris as well as by the accusing Masai. They there- 
upon left us and returned to Nyeri. 

After a few days they again appeared and pre- 
sented the following letter, from the District 
Commissioner : 

(Seal) District Commissioner's Office, 
q Nyeri 31st January, 1908. 

I have the honour to inform you that the 2 askaris sent out by 
me to investigate the charge of stealing sheep brought by certain 
Masai against the Somali members of your caravan have reported to 

163 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

the District Commissioner that, although you yourself gave them 
every assistance in carrying out my instructions, your Somali 
servants at the instigation of your head Somali and unbeknown to 
you threatened them that if they pushed the investigation they would 
give them each five strokes with a kiboko; and that they further 
intimidated and abused them. 

The District Commissioner informs me that, in consequence of 
this, the askaris report that they were unable to obtain any informa- 
tion regarding the theft as alleged by the Masai. 

As the result of this report the District Commissioner has issued 
a warrant for the arrest of your Somali headman, on a charge of 
resisting the Police in the performance of their duties. He is well 
aware that in taking this step he must necessarily cause you and 
your party much personal inconvenience and for this reason he is 
indeed sorry that he is compelled to act in this way in consequence 
of the seriousness of the allegations made by the police askaris. He 
wishes me to inform you that he will thoroughly investigate the 
charges and further that in the event of having to inflict a fine by 
way of punishment, he will at once release the accused Somali on 
receiving an undertaking from you that the fine will be paid. It 
might therefore save you some inconvenience if you would send some 
such undertaking by the askaris who will accompany the accused. 

The Masai declare that they can promise an eye witness to the 
theft of the sheep, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. 
If, however, their witness cannot be produced, no arrest will of 
course be made. 

I have the honour to be. Sir, 

Your Obedient Servant 

(Signed) F. B. Pigott, 
Assistant District Commissioner. 

The charge that our Somalis abused the Masai or 
the askaris was absolutely without foundation, for they 
were never out of sight from the time they were in our 
camp. We had fed them and treated them well, but 
had refused to have the Masai sit under our tent awning 
while we were at meals, as their presence was most 
objectionable on account of their odor. We had also 

164 



GOVERNMENT PROTECTION OF NATIVES 

ordered them to leave the camp and return to the fort, 
but this was the extent of the abuse or intimidation. 
There had been no resistance whatever to the poHce. 
We now asked the askaris whether they had reported 
that they had not received information in regard to 
the theft, and they advised us that they were perfectly 
satisfied that the theft had not been committed. So 
was our Masai interpreter, who, naturally, would stand 
by his own tribe against the Somalis, had there been 
any reasonable doubt in his mind. We demanded the 
warrant which had been mentioned in the District Com- 
missioner's letter, and as the askaris could not produce 
it, we declined to give up Ali Aden, our headman. Had 
we done so, our entire outfit would have been badly 
crippled, and we had no time to waste by going back to 
Nyeri and arguing the thing out before the District 
Commissioner. So I wrote a concihatory letter to him, 
saying that as the askaris did not present a warrant, 
we had not given up Ah, and also explaining the in- 
convenience that we should suffer from the action which 
he proposed. The askaris, accompanied by the Masai 
accusers, again returned to Fort Nyeri. 

Possibly a week afterwards the same procession of 
two askaris and two Masai again appeared. I might 
state in parenthesis that the value of the sheep in 
question would not have exceeded a couple of dollars, 
but there was a principle involved, and we did not in- 
tend to submit to blackmail on the part of the Masai. 
We were now out of the jurisdiction of the District 
Commissioner at Nyeri, and were in the territory 

165 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

covered by the fort at Rumeruti. At this last interview 
the askaris presented another letter from Fort Nyeri, 
dated February 6, 1908. 
Sir, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
the 5th inst. addressed to my Asst. District Commr. 

I regret to have to inform you that I cannot but consider the 
explanation the reverse of satisfactory, as I must point out that the 
statements made are quite worthless in judicial proceedings. I 
presume all your information has been obtained through the medium 
of an English speaking Somali, possibly actually the man concerned 
in the matter, and in any case the interpretation of one Somali in 
the inquiry into the doings of another Somali without the presence 
of some one with a knowledge of the language, is quite worthless. 

I can assure you there has been no misinterpretation in the 
matters laid before me, as no interpreter was used, my knowledge 
of the language having been sufficient for me to dispense with 
interpreters for several years past. I can see but little hope of 
securing a conviction, and must therefore let the matter rest. I 
note, however, that you state that you can clearly prove that no 
theft of sheep took place by any member of your safari, and if you 
will furnish me with this proof the matter is ended. I cannot but 
regret the trouble and inconvenience you have been put to, but you 
are doubtless aware that the Somali is noted for the trouble he 
invariably causes with the native and is therefore rigorously excluded 
from all closed districts such as you are at present travelling in. 
I have the honour to be, Sir, 

Your Obedient Servant 

(Signed) H. Silverad, 
Acting District Commissioner. 

In reply to this I advised that when we returned, 
if the District Commissioner cared to carry the matter 
out further, I should be glad to have it submitted to 
the Court at Nairobi, and would hold myself responsible 
for any penalty imposed upon me for the actions of my 
Somalis in this case. I further stated that it was a 

166 



GOVERNMENT PROTECTION OF NATIVES 

matter of much inconvenience and injustice, and that as 
I had carefully examined into the merits of the whole 
case, I was unwilling to have my men stand convicted 
upon the say-so evidence of a Masai, or the contradic- 
tory evidence the Commissioner had evidently obtained 
through the askaris. I might state that one of the latter 
was a Sudanese and the other a Masai, both speaking 
the language of the latter. The Sudanese assured us 
that the Commissioner had misunderstood the report 
which he had made, and the Masai confirmed this. 

I merely relate this to show the red tape that is 
necessary in governing the black man, and the trouble 
occasioned by such a small matter, and not in criticism 
of the District Commissioner, whose attentions to us 
were all that could be desired. He was most friendly 
in every way, and in this matter merely followed out 
what he conceived to be his duty. Unless the natives 
can obtain justice at the hands of the Commissioner, be 
it a great or a small matter, the authority of the Gov- 
ernment is of course nullified. While I do not question 
that the Masai had lost a sheep, possibly by theft from 
one of the other caravans which passed our camp the 
day in question, his inability to reach the proper parties 
and his hatred of the Somali prompted the accusation 
against our men. The Commissioner's letters evince 
the dislike most residents feel for the Somali, and show 
that in many cases he is excluded from " closed dis- 
tricts " such as we were travelling in, and for which 
are required special permits, similar to that which we 
had for hunting in the Embo District. 

167 



CHAPTER XV 



HUNTING THE ORYX BEISA IN LAIKIPIA 



Tuesday, January 28th, Williams went hunting to 
the left of the camp, and returned with a couple of 
Tommies and a steinbuck. I proceeded due north for 
about seven miles, and shot three zebras for food for 
the camp, as the men were clamoring for meat and 
really needed it. The coloring of the zebras here was 
much finer than that of those we had found in the lower 
country, the black and white being brilliant and the 
stripes on the faces much narrower. 

Having seen signs of oryx still farther to the north, 
and beyond where I had secured the zebra, I pushed 
on in that direction the following day, and after a 
long journey ran into great quantities of these beautiful 
animals. I must have encountered from ten to fifteen 
diiFerent herds, some of them consisting of as many as 
twenty or thirty. I stalked several times unsuccessfully, 
but finally succeeded in getting within range of one 
band, and, picking out what appeared to be a good, big 
bull, dropped him with a very long shot — ^three hundred 
and eighteen paces by actual measurement. It took 
two shots to bring him down. A little later I stalked 
again, and got another bull at about two hundred and 
fifty yards. Both specimens were good, the first 
measuring thirty-one and a half inches long and nine 

168 




BEISA ORYX 

(Oryx belsa) 



HUNTING THE ORYX BEISA IN LAIKIPIA 

and a half inches from tip to tip, and the second an 
inch shorter. It gave me a great sense of rehef to 
have finally secured the two specimens of this beautiful 
antelope — all that is allowed by the license. In my 
opinion they take about as much killing as any animal 
in Africa, not even excepting the hartebeest. 

The variety found here is known as beisa oryx, 
which belongs to the same genus as the gemsbuck 
farther south, and is also a near relation of the oryx cal- 
lotis, or tufted oryx found south of the Tana River. 
The descriptions given of the beisa invariably call 
attention to the fact that the black stripe does not 
extend down to the throat stripe underneath the jaw. 
In the four which we secured here, however, the eye 
stripe was the same as in the tufted oryx, extending 
underneath the jawbone, and the ears, instead of being 
devoid of fringe, had an incipient indication of such 
growth. It would appear as if at this point there is a 
mixture between the two varieties. The animal stands 
about four feet at the shoulder, and weighs about four 
hundred and fifty pounds. It is very heavily built at 
the shoulders, with a tremendous neck, in proportion to 
the general size, giving great strength for fighting, and 
the skin on the neck is about an inch and a half thick. It 
is no mean antagonist with those tremendous rapiers, 
for their horns are as sharp as skewers. This oryx 
is of a gray fawn color, with a black stripe down 
the eye, a black shield in the centre of the face, 
a black stripe down the gullet, marks about the 

169 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

knees, and a black stripe separating the color of 
the back from the white belly. Their horns carry 
out the same plane as the face, with a very shght 
curve and diverging very little. The females have horns 
as long and sometimes longer than the males, but more 
slender. 

Williams also saw a number of bands of oryx, and 
finally wounded one, and had it down, but it got away, 
and although he pursued it till dark, it escaped. He 
brought in two Grant's and two Tommies. We had 
both travelled far from camp and covered a great many 
miles. Four giraffes were seen, and many signs of 
hons were visible around the camp. We heard them 
during the night, as indeed we did at most of our camps 
in Laikipia. 

The hard work of the preceding day prompted me 
to take it somewhat easy next morning, although 
Williams started oiF at dawn, the customary hour at 
which we cormnenced our day's work, and which 
occurred here about twent}'^ minutes to six. I started 
out to hunt around the bushes to the north of the camp, 
and which looked like lion country and was the direction 
in wliich we had heard these beasts the previous night. 
After going some little distance, I saw what looked like 
a red rock lying close underneath some bushes about 
a hundred yards away. I had started to go by when I 
looked again and fancied it bore some resemblance to a 
lion. I put up my glasses, and then was sure that it 
was a lion. Both my gun-bearers agreed with me, and 
great excitement prevailed. While we were looking at 

170 





^J 




HUNTING THE ORYX BEISA IN LAIKIPIA 

the beast, but well hidden, it moved and stretched itself, 
then we saw a large mane and I promptly fired. There 
was no motion, and I fii*ed again, then, finding that the 
beast lay still, and having heard the bullets hit, we ap- 
proached and found that our " lion " was nothing but 
an enormous hyena. Both bullets had struck it in the 
head, wliich explained the absence of movement, and I 
felt encouraged to think of what would have happened 
had it really been a lion. My subsequent shooting, 
however, convinced me that they were uncommonly 
lucky shots, for afterwards as well as before I missed 
at the same range on targets quite as large. The men 
said that this hyena was the largest they had ever seen. 
It was in wonderfully good condition, clean and with 
good, thick hair — quite diiferent from the others we 
saw during the trip, which were the dirtiest, mangiest, 
and meanest-looking beasts that one can imagine. 

A little later I saw two oryx, and stalked one to 
within about twenty-five yards, when I endeavored to 
get his photograph. But he dodged around a bush, and 
by the time I got the camera in position to take him 
he was on the gallop, and the plate was a failure. I sat 
down to watch another oryx that we found, keeping 
perfectly still, but very foolishly leaving my camera in 
the hands of a porter about twenty feet away. When 
the animal's attention was first attracted to us, he stood 
watching us for quite a little while in an attitude of 
attention and investigation. Subsequently he resumed 
his feeding, and then, little by little, approached nearer 
and nearer until he could not have been thirty yards 

in 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

away. There he stood in full view, looking at our little 
band of men, but I was afraid to alarm him by trying to 
get my camera. It was a great opportunity to have 
photographed him in life, but was one of those blunders 
that constantly happen with the unexpected. I had 
never anticipated getting so close to an oryx, after all 
the difficulty I had had in approaching them when I 
wished to shoot them. 

After a long, hard day's hunt, Williams returned 
with two steinbuck, one of them a very good specimen. 
He had seen oryx, zebra, and Jackson's hartebeest. He 
had been after oryx, but had been unable to get a shot 
at one. 

During the last two days my Somali tent boy, 
Dheria Ahmud, had been very ill with fever, induced, 
I presume, by the hard marches we had been making, 
and the results of the poison he had gotten into his 
system in his trip through Abyssinia and the Sobat 
country with Sir John Harrington and Mr. McMillan 
two years before. We gave him every attention for he 
was an invaluable servant, honest and devoted, and alto- 
gether the best Somali that I had seen. We were 
delighted when he recovered, after having many doses 
of quinine, which the natives can take in enormous 
quantities. 

The elevation of our camp here was very high, 
and the temperature during the night got down as low 
as 42° in the tent, and it was of course considerably 
colder outside. 

172 




DEFASSA WATERBUCK 

{CobiiK dcfnsna) 



CHAPTER XVI 

FEROCITY OF RHINOS AND BUFFALOES 

The 30th of January saw us started again, moving 
our camp to the northward about two and a half hours' 
march. Here we once more struck the Guaso Nyiro, 
and found it a fine, good-sized river. The country 
through which we passed was most attractive, being 
covered with thick bush, fine trees, and with plenty 
of water. In the afternoon I crossed the river 
close to a huge swamp of papyrus, and struck a band 
of impalla which I pursued dihgently for a couple 
of hours around and around the country which they 
circled. They would escape me, and subsequently I 
would locate them again, and finally, after a most care- 
ful stalk, I had an opportunity to secure the buck which 
I had been chasing. But just as I was about to shoot, 
out from the bush stepped a magnificent waterbuck! I 
decided to take the latter, as he was the biggest that I 
had seen, and I dropped him with the first shot, hitting 
him in the neck. He was a fine specimen of the defassa, 
with horns measuring twenty-eight and three-quarter 
inches, spread sixteen and one-half inches and circum- 
ference at base ten and one-half inches. He was the 
first of this defassa or sing-sing waterbuck which we 
encountered, and was also the best that we got during 
the trip. They are verj^ similar to the common water- 

173 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 



buck, except in color, theirs being of a reddish brown 
instead of gray, with the wliite color around the eye a 
little less distinct. But perhaps the principal difference 
is shown on the rump, which instead of bearing a white 
ellipse, like the common or ellypsiiDrimnus waterbuck, 
is entirely white. The habitat of the defassa is differ- 
ent from the other waterbuck, and we never again met 
the ellypsiprimnus. 

Lion tracks were plentiful, but with the exception 
of impalla and some Tommies, I saw no game. 
Williams secured a wart-hog and a zebra, but again 
failed to get his oryx, which seemed to hoodoo him, just 
as the wart-hog had so far defied my efforts. 

The temperature during the preceding night went 
down to about 40° in the tent, and the elevation was 
about 6950 feet. During the day the temperature in 
the shade was delightful, but it was, of course, hot in the 
sun. 

The following day we moved on to the Engobit 
River, where our camp was among hiUs and in very 
broken country. The journey took about three and a 
quarter hours, and on the way we saw some impalla and 
great numbers of Tommies, of which we bagged quite a 
good head. Williams was ill on this march, from the 
effects of the sun, and suffered a great deal with his 
head. Our Masai guides told us that there was no game 
in the region, but we mistrusted their information, 
although we did not see many signs of the oiyx, which 
was principally what Williams wanted. We both 
wanted lions more than anj^thing else, of course. 

174 



FEROCITY OF RHINOS AND BUFFALOES 

We were now en route to the Pesi Swamp, A\ith the 
ultimate direction towards Rumeruti. We struck the 
swamp near the main road between Nyeri and Rum- 
eruti, camping, after a march of four and three-quarter 
hours. On the road we met Messrs. Montgomery and 
Barnes, of the Treasury Department, on their way east 
from Baringo, where they had been collecting the hut- 
tax receipts. They reported that the country in that 
direction and through Laikipia was dried up, and so 
contained no game. 

During the day I shot an impalla, and Williams two 
Grant's and one Tommie. We pitched our camp some 
distance back from the edge of the swamp. While dili- 
gently searching for lions in the afternoon a rhino sud- 
denly rose up out of the grass about twenty-five yards in 
front. My approach had evidently disturbed him, for 
he was looking for me, with his head twisting in every 
direction. I quickly decided that his was a better head 
than the one I had, and promptly gave him both barrels, 
aiming at a point between the eye and the ear. Evi- 
dently I missed this spot, which would have reached 
his brain, for he did not fall, although he seemed dazed, 
and I had time to slip two more cartridges into my 
rifle and empty these into his shoulder, before he broke 
away on a lumbering trot and I after him. I had to 
run as fast as I could to overtake him at all, but every 
time I did I fu-ed, and after a mile and a half's run 
he finally dropped. He had made no effort to charge, 
although when first disturbed, he was apparently look- 
ing for the cause of the row. 

175 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

The front horn was twenty inches long and quite 
heavy. He measured ten feet from his nose to the 
root of his tail, which was twenty-two inches in length, 
and stood five feet three or four inches in height at 
the shoulder, as near as I could measure, and as 
he lay on the ground the thickness of his body 
measured four feet. The color was a light, slate gray 
and he looked quite clean, but his belly was covered 
with enormous ticks. Many of the rhinos which we 
saw looked reddish, no doubt owing to the mud and 
the color of the water in which they had been accustomed 
to bathe. I had been intending to wait to get a larger 
set of horns, but these were reasonably satisfactory, so 
I decided to take him, and was afterward glad that I did 
so, for he was the last one I had a shot at on my trip, 
rhinos becoming quite scarce from this point. He had 
nine shot-holes in his head and twelve in his body. The 
last four or five were perhaps unnecessary, as he would 
hav§ died from any of the first ones, but I kept shoot- 
ing at him until he was perfectly quiet, not desiring to 
have the experience which Mr. Eastebrook had. 

He, it seems, was out shooting somewhere near Lake 
Baringo, when he came upon several rhinos. He shot 
one at a short distance and dropped it in its tracks. 
Thinking that it was dead, he proceeded with his morn- 
ing's hunt, and, after a considerable time, returned to 
the rhino, with which he had left one of his boys to 
skin the head. He found the animal on his feet and 
apparently uninjured. The gun-bearer was so fright- 

176 



FEROCITY OF RHINOS AND BUFFALOES 

eiied that he decamped, evidently attracting the beast's 
attention by his flight. Mr. Eastebrook fired and the 
rhino fell heavily, and soon lay quiet. He then ap- 
proached, and Mobile he w^as looking the huge beast 
over it suddenly got up on its feet. The first shot 
failed to stop it, and in an instant the bi-ute was heading 
at a full charge straight at Mr. Eastebrook, who en- 
deavored to get out of the way by dodging quickly, 
but slipped and fell. The rhino immediately knelt an 
him and then tossed him over his head, the horn punctur- 
ing his leg. Eastebrook went so liigh in the air that 
he saw the rhino under him as he went hurtling through 
space. He was thrown a second time, and a third, and 
possibly more. 

He must have fainted after the first toss, and when 
he recovered his consciousness he found that he had a 
dreadful wound in the leg, was bruised all over the 
body, and his right arm and four ribs were broken. He 
also had a compound fracture of the wrist, the bones 
sticking out through the flesh, and generally, he was 
a crippled wreck. He lay a long time in the sun before 
help came, during which, in intervals of consciousness, 
he wondered whether it would be the vultures or the 
hyenas which would finish him oiF. After some two or 
three hours his gun-bearer and porters found him, 
bleeding from his various wounds. They made a tourni- 
quet for his leg, then rigged up a litter and started 
for camp, a five hours' march. 

The nearest doctor was some seventy-five or a hun- 

12 177 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

dred miles away, but he at once sent a runner for him, 
and during the night was carried to the fort at Baringo, 
a twelve hours' journey, during which he must have 
suffered untold agony. It was forty hours after he 
was hurt before he reached European assistance, when 
his wounds were washed and dressed for the first time. 
It was eight days after he was hurt before the doctor 
finalty appeared, and by then gangrene had set in, and 
the arm had to be amputated. It was many a long day 
before he recovered from the dreadful mauling he had 
received. 

Mr. Eastebrook's marvelous recovery was paralleled 
by the case of Mr. Richard Berridge, who shot a buffalo 
in German East Africa, and, thinking it was dead, fol- 
lowed it into the long grass. Following the custom of 
his kind, the wounded beast had turned on his back 
tracks and waited for the hunter to get opposite him. 
He charged the hunter from the rear like a whirlwind 
and caught the man, bringing him to the ground, 
severely lacerating him with his horns and then tossing 
him over his head. Berridge landed in a heap well 
to the rear, and the buffalo turned instantly, 
caught the prostrate man in the ribs with his horns, 
and again flung him high into the air. By this time 
the poor fellow was insensible, for the point of the horn 
had broken two or three of his ribs and perforated one 
of the lungs. Not content with this, the buffalo, 
wounded nearly to death as he was, knelt on Berridge's 
chest and thirsty from his own wounds and bleeding, 

178 



FEROCITY OF RHINOS AND BUFFALOES 

proceeded to lick Berridge's face, probably for the salt 
resulting from perspiration. Every place where the 
animal's rough tongue (which is like a rasp) touched 
the skin, the cuticle was lifted as if taken off by a file. 
The kneeling on the chest did still more serious damage 
by forcing the lung out of the hole in the side. Merci- 
fully, all things came to an end, and the buffalo dropped 
over dead alongside his ^actim. 

In a short time Berridge was found by his men and 
carried out from the swampy ground where he was lying 
to a nearby tree. Undoubtedly the soft ground on 
which he had fallen prevented the breaking of every 
bone in his bodj^, from the great weight of the buffalo 
kneeling on him. Berridge's companion was immedi- 
aiely notified by a runner, and brought to the camp as 
rapidly as possible to where the wounded man lay. 
They had been hunting for some time and their supply 
of medical stores was extremely limited, there being no 
antiseptic left in their medicine chest but listerine. 
With this the wounds were washed and such dressing 
given to the wounds as amateur skill made possible. 
A runner was immediately sent for a doctor, several 
days' journey away, but it was ten days before he 
finally reached Berridge, who well recognized what dan- 
ger he was in. His wonderful constitution conquered 
the blood poisoning, and some weeks later he was trans- 
ported to the coast in a litter and sent home. 

There are a great many tragedies occasioned by 
rhinos, and some few comedies. What came near being 

179 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

a tragedy equal to the foregoing was the experience of 
Mr. Bayard Dominick, of New York, who, on his very 
first day in camp, started out to hunt and saw a rhino 
approaching him. He was instantly seen by the beast, 
which started full-tilt for him. Having been thoroughly 
posted as to the etiquette and the customary proceedings 
on such occasions, Mr. Dominick awaited the on-coming 
rhino and shot him through the chest with his .450. The 
rhino, however, did not play the game according to 
rules, but kept coming on, so Dominick fired again. 
By this time the rhino was almost on top of the hunter, 
who had been advised that the proper thing to do was 
to turn at right angles to the rhino's charge, dodging 
like a toreador does. The rhino, however, again ignored 
all rules, and turned just as quickly. Again and again 
the beast chased Dominick, at times so close that the 
hunter could see the horns over his shoulder as he 
dodged, twisted and turned in the hope of throwing the 
rhino off. This continued for several minutes, and 
Dominick was almost exhausted when, fortunately, a 
gun-bearer came up and distracted the attention of the 
rhino by shooting. Between them they dropped the 
beast, and Dominick's life was saved. 

There are many such instances to be recorded in 
regard to their charges. An amusing one occurred in 
the case of Mr. and Mrs. Saunderson, who accompanied 
us on the Burgomeister, and then took a preliminary 
hunt vdth Colonel Patterson, of man-eating lion fame. 
Mr. and Mrs. Saunderson were mounted on mules, and 

180 



FEROCITY OF RHINOS AND BUFFALOES 

were travelling along quietly when a pugnacious rhino 
hove in sight, and made a bee-line charge for the safari, 
directly at the point where the Saundersons were. Mr. 
Saunderson's mule threw him, and Mrs. Saunderson's 
bolted and unseated her. Both were sitting on the 
ground facing the on-coming rhino, with death staring 
them in the face, when Mrs. Saunderson, with no 
weapon except an umbrella, suddenly opened the latter 
in the face of the rhino, deflecting his charge so that 
he passed between her and her husband and left them 
unscathed from the encounter. The picture of the rhino 
being turned from his charge by a green and white 
umbrella, his two intended victims sitting on the ground 
in front of him, is probably more amusing at a distance 
than it was at the moment. 



CHAPTER XVII 

ELEPHANTS NEAR US 

Williams circled around the territory back of the 
camp, and on the ridges away from the swamp, and 
returned with two fine Grant's gazelle, a couple of 
hares, and a fine bunch of birds, which latter he had 
secured with his shotgun, so our larder was well pro- 
vided with delicacies. As our camp here was quite high 
and apparently healthy, we decided to remain in order 
to dry and prepare the skins which we had secured 
recently, and which needed a great deal of attention. 

In the morning I took a very easy hunt, returning 
with a couple of Tommies, which were all the game I 
saw except zebra. In the direction of my dead rhino, 
Williams secured the largest impalla which we had so 
far bagged, measuring twenty-six and one-quarter 
inches in length, and he also added two Tommies to the 
general store. 

In front of our camp the stream which came from 
the swamp divided and formed an island of about 
twenty-five acres in extent. This was apparently used 
at night by a great many animals, who had been little 
disturbed by hunting. At the upper end the island 
opened out into a plain leading to a drinking-place 
which the game had apparently established. Williams 
stationed himself over there late in the afternoon and 

182 



ELEPHANTS NEAR US 

remained until it was dark. While watching- the trees 
surrounding the open meadow, something moving 
attracted his attention. He remained motionless for 
a while, when out stepped a serval cat, which cautiously 
examined everything in sight before it left the cover of 
the foliage. It was dusk at the time and almost im- 
possible to distinguish the rifle sights, but Williams 
managed to bag him. On three successive nights he 
repeated the performance, each time getting one of 
these cats, which stand about eighteen inches high and 
have rather a short tail. The body is almost the same 
color as a cheetah, and has similar dark, solid spots over 
it. They are pugnacious little brutes, and one that 
Williams wounded but did not kill outright promptly 
jumped at him. The brute was so far gone, however, 
that it did no damage. Had it not been so badly 
injured, its claws and teeth might have given consider- 
able trouble. He also secured a couple of Grant's, and 
I had similar luck. 

While we were at luncheon that day we were some- 
what surprised at the approach of an Englishman, fol- 
lowed by gun-bearers, who came into our camp and 
introduced himself as Mr. Ashton Blythe, and who 
advised us that he and his wife were accompanying 
Colonel J. H. Patterson on a hunting and exploring 
trip to Lake Rudolph. Shortly after, the two others 
of Iiis party arrived and lunched with us. We had met 
Colonel Patterson before in Nairobi, but it was a great 
pleasure to see him again with his companions and hear 

183 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

from him at first hand some of the stories of his wonder- 
ful experiences with the " Man-eating lions of Tsavo," 
which book has made him famous throughout the world. 
It is hardly probable that any man has had a more 
nerve-racking time with lions than he had in his dread- 
ful experiences during the construction of the Uganda 
Railroad, when the whole operation was held up by the 
depredations of a couple of these man-eating beasts. 
We dined together and met frequently in the succeeding 
few days. 

The tragic end of Mr. Blythe, news of which reached 
us at Djibouti on our way home, was most deplorable. 
The story, as I understand it, is that Colonel Patterson 
had invited his friends to accompany him on a trip to 
Lake Rudolph, where he was going to make arrange- 
ments for dividing the present large game reserve there 
into two portions, it being at that time too large to be 
thoroughly protected and guarded. Apparently a fever 
contracted in South Africa during the Boer war had 
broken out in a violent form again on the present 
journey and put Mr. Blythe out of his head, for in 
delirium one morning he fatally shot himself with his 
rifle. 

As Chief Game Warden of the Province, Colonel 
Patterson, while at camp very kindly wrote an official 
letter to Mr. Lane, the Commissioner at Fort Hall, 
asking permission for me to retain the cow buffalo shot 
by mistake, as a trophy and memento of the encounter 
in which our Somali gun-bearer had been tossed and 
badly wounded. 

184 



f 



ELEPHANTS NEAR US 

During the afternoon of our fii'st day in camp I 
hunted over the ridges about a mile away from the 
edges of the swamp, looking for Chanler's reedbuck 
and antelope of various kinds, but without seeing any- 
thing except the customary game, which I did not 
desire. 

The following morning I went through the forest 
on the edge of the swamp, and towards the southern end 
of it, about three miles from camp, found signs of a 
herd of about ten elephants that had evidently been 
through the forest the preceding day, while I was hunt- 
ing on the ridge. Their tracks were all through the 
forest, and so many branches of the trees were torn off 
that it looked as if a cyclone had swept through there. 
The herd consisted of one big bull, a number of cows, 
and some half -grown calves. They had gone through 
the forest up to within about two miles of our camp, and 
then the tracks led into the vast papyrus swamp, which 
is about ten miles long and two or three wide. We 
hunted in every direction for the herd, but they had 
evidently passed through on their way between the 
Aberdare range of mountains and Mt. Kenia, and were 
merely migrating. 

In the afternoon I took Mrs. Madeira down to see 
the elephant tracks and the destruction the huge beasts 
had wrought among the trees, and, incidentally, to look 
for lions. I was on foot, and she followed me on her 
mule at an interval of about twenty-five yards. The 
undergrowth all through the forest here was very thick 

185 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

bush, with occasional open places. I was travelling very 
carefully, inspecting every bush in front and on either 
side of me, when I heard Mrs. IMadeira snap her fingers. 
I turned quickly, whereupon she indicated a point at 
which she was looking intently. I crept back just in 
time to see the hindquarters and tail of a lion disappear- 
ing through the bushes. My passage had apparently 
disturbed the brute, which had been lying down under 
a bush and behind some others which had hidden him 
from my view, but over which Mrs. Madeira, from the 
back of her mule, had been able to see. She had 
stopped suddenly, and she and the lion — a full black 
maned one — had gazed at each other at a distance which 
I afterwai'ds ascertained by pacing to be twenty-four 
yards. It must have taken me half a minute to creep 
back, during which the two stood staring at each other 
at this close range — somewhat of a nerve-racking ex- 
perience for a woman. Either he heard me returning 
or his curiosity was satisfied, for he decided to get out, 
which he did in a great hurry, preventing me from 
getting a shot. Upon searching the ground, we found 
tracks of two of them, evidently a lion and a lioness, 
but although we beat the bushes in every direction, we 
could not locate them again, they having evidently gone 
into the swamp or cleared out entirely from that section. 
This was the finest lion that any of us saw during the 
trip. 

In the morning we had hopes that we might en- 
counter him, as the night was quite cold, and we thought 

186 



ELEPHANTS NEAR US 

that he might come out and get in the sun to warm up ; 
so at daybreak we took with us about twenty porters 
and again thoroughly beat the bush and all the section 
in the neighborhood of where we had seen him. The 
hunt was continued until midday, but, although we saw 
many signs of lions through the bush, we disturbed 
nothing but zebra, eland, and Tommies. 

While sitting in camp that afternoon two or three 
bands of Tommies and Grant's, grazing not far from 
the tent, attracted my attention. One of the Tommies 
seemed to have a very large set of horns, so, going back 
of the tent about fifty yards, I stalked him, and secured 
a fine head without the slightest difficulty. 

At this place the animals were quite tame, feeding 
within two or three hundred yards of our camp and 
being \isible almost all the time. Apparently they had 
no fear whatever of the camp or its noises. 

In the afternoon and again on the following morn- 
ing we continued our search for hons and elephants. 
There were no fresh indications of elephant, but there 
were plenty of signs of lions. However, hunting for 
them in tliis bush country was like looking for the 
proverbial needle in the haystack. 

As our supplies were now getting low we broke 
camp on Friday, the 7th, and moved into Rumeruti, 
about two hours' journey away. We here secured the 
necessary supplies, and packed up the accumulation of 
skins and horns for shipment to Nairobi, sending them 
by porters which we obtained at this point to Gil Gil, 

187 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

the nearest railway station, some four or five days' 
journey away. We also sent out letters and received 
the mail that had been waiting for us for some time. 

We again met Colonel Patterson and his party, and 
upon telling him of our disappointment about lions, he 
advised us to go back to where he had been the night 
before we first met him, as he had at that point found 
a lion kill on the Sugari River. He carefully described 
its location, and told us he had built a zareba near the 
dead eland, and that Mr. and Mrs. Blythe and he had 
sat up all night watching it. Two lions had approached, 
but although they had fired a number of times and 
found marks of blood in the morning, they had failed 
to secure either of them. He also advised us that the 
territor}'^ between the Engobit and Sugari Rivers was 
the best lion country that he knew of in the neighbor- 
hood. 

These animals were the principal ones which we were 
now hunting. In fact, we were commencing to get what 
we termed '* lionitis," and nothing else was in our 
thoughts. The strain and tension occasioned by hunting 
for these beasts morning after morning and night 
after night commenced to tell on our nerves. There is 
a good deal of luck in getting a lion, as we learned 
afterwards, for when one is not looking for them they 
are likely to be found, whereas one is rarely successful 
when one hunts for them. 

Our alum, for the curing of skins, had given out, 
and there was none to be had at Rumeruti. We there- 

188 





f 



ELEPHANTS NEAR US 

fore had instructed our porters to wait at Gil Gil for a 
supply of this to be sent from Nairobi, we having tele- 
graphed to Newland, Tarleton & Company to foi'ward 
it on the next train. A protracted stay at the forts, 
while it may be very pleasant to the sportsmen, is 
utterly demoralizing to the safari, so we did not remain 
any longer than was necessary to fix up what business 
we had. In spite of protests on the part of our safari, 
we left the next morning at ten o'clock. 

We followed north on the right-hand side of the 
Guaso Narok for a couple of hours, and then branched 
off to the East, across country, and landed again on the 
Pesi River, about five miles below the swamp on which 
we had camped a few days before. This was excellent 
game country, and zebras being especially plentiful 
and not very wild. 

As apparently this section had not been hunted for 
a long time, we thought it would be a good place to 
try for lions, so we each Idlled a zebra, one as food for 
the men and the other as bait. The latter was left in a 
position where it could be easily stalked the following 
morning, but no lion appeared. The men, however, got 
all the meat, so it was not wasted. I saw a very fine 
band of impalla here, but could not get the buck, 
although I followed them along the stream for several 
hours. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

LION HUNTING BY NIGHT AND DAY 

On Februaiy 9th we packed up and moved across 
the country to our fii-st camp at the Pesi Swamp, a 
march of only an hour and three-quarters. On tlie way 
we encountered innumerable Grant's, Tommies, and 
zebra, and guinea-hens by the hundreds. Just before 
reaching camp I shot a Tommie for our own table. 

As our method of hunting lions up to the present 
time had been a failure, we decided to build a zareba at 
the north end of the swamp, and about twenty-five men 
were put to work on this job. Branches of thorn trees 
were cut off and laid on the ground in a circle and then 
other branches were added until it made a thin and 
straggly hedge about six or seven feet high. It is 
painful work to handle these thorn-trees, for the wood 
is tough and the branches are difficult to cut, all the 
wood being covered with these dreadful spikes, and the 
men dislike the job extremely. After the circle is com- 
pleted a small passageway is left, and a branch is 
placed so it can be drawn up and fill this entrance. The 
whole affair is the flimsiest and most rickety looking 
protection against a great beast like a lion, which could 
without difficulty pull the whole thing apart or jump 
into the middle of it, when the hunter would be abso- 
lutely defenseless and escape impossible. 

190 



LION HUNTING BY NIGHT AND DAY 

We did not wish to disturb any lion that might be 
in the neighborhood by firing a number of shots, so, 
with a hmit of one shot, I started out in the afternoon 
to secure a zebra. I located a herd of them and some 
thirty or forty eland about a quarter of a mile from the 
zareba, but found it difRcult to get close enough to 
drop the zebra at the first shot, as the eland were very 
wild and helped to alarm the other animals every time 
I got near them. In the end I got a good shot, putting 
it a little back of the shoulder of the zebra, and knock- 
ing him over. Expecting him to die every minute, I 
waited about seventy-five yards away. The actions of 
the rest of the troop were interesting. At the shot, they 
immediately dashed away for a short distance, stood, 
and watched me. Then two of them returned to the 
wounded one, smelling him, and everj^ now and then 
making short rushes in my direction, barking at and 
apparently threatening me. This kept up for a minute 
or two, when the wounded zebra struggled to his feet, 
and the other two closed in on either side of him, as if 
to give him their support or encouragement, and I 
could not help wondering whether their idea reaUy was 
to take care of the animal and help him off. It iseems 
entirely too logical for their reasoning powers, but when 
one has seen w^ounded buffalo guarded by a sentry it 
does not seem improbable that the zebra exercises the 
same care of his mate. It is possible that, as I was 
lying on the ground, the zebra took me for a hj^ena, 
and thej^ would no doubt be able to protect an injured 

191 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

mate from the attacks of such a beast. The whole in- 
cident occupied but a few minutes, and their efforts 
were unavaihng, as the wounded one could proceed only 
a few steps before he fell dead. I wondered at the time 
whether a troop of zebra would attack a man. If they 
did, they would be no mean antagonists, if they attacked 
in a body, as their biting and kicking would give them 
a very fomiidable attack or defense. 

I have already called attention to the fact that the 
zebra in this section were larger and handsomer than 
those we met in the Kenia Province, near the Tana. 
The black and white were brilliant to an extreme, and 
their coats were in fine condition. When standing in 
the shadow of a tree, a zebra is almost invisible. In 
other lights, when the sun is striking him, he is white, 
silver, or black, dependent upon the angle of the sun- 
light, and while one would imagine that with his bizarre 
stripings of black and white he could be readily dis- 
tinguished, such is not always the case. This subject, 
however, verges on " protective coloring," which is too 
scientific and deep for me to discuss, and it has already 
been so thoroughly exploited by the well known pen of 
Mr. Selous in his book of " African Notes," that I shall 
not enter into it. 

iThe zebra was dragged to the zareba, which was 
finished just before dark, and Williams and I, with 
two gun-bearers, proceeded to ensconce ourselves for 
the night watch. It was a beautiful moonlight night, 
and quite comfortable so far as the temperature was 

192 



#"" ."^^ 




LION HUNTING BY NIGHT AND DAY 

concerned, but not as regards mosquitoes. It is the 
most dreadfully sleepy work, however, and I found it 
difficult to stay awake. It is of course essential to 
remain perfectly still, and in a cramped position this is 
not easy. The zebra, which was tied with ropes to a 
stake driven far into the ground, was not more than ten 
feet from where we lay, yet at times it was almost im- 
possible to distinguish the outline. I realized then how 
easy it would be for a lion to approach unseen, even in 
the brilliant moonlight which we had that night. But 
nothing happened ; we had no visitors, not even a hyena. 
At daybreak several porters arrived from the camp to 
let us out of the zareba, and we returned rather done- 
up from want of sleep and the discomforts of the all- 
night watch. 

We left Mrs. Madeira alone in the camp, she having 
not the slightest fear, although surrounded by this big 
safari of wild, black savages. Familiarity with them, 
and the realization of their respect and deference for 
white people, were imbued very early in our trip. I 
left her in the care of the Somalis, Ali and Dheria. One 
of them slept in front of her tent, and the other at the 
rear. During the nights that I was away in the zareba, 
they looked upon her as their particular charge, and I 
do not beheve that they would have allowed man or 
beast to approach or disturb her. I am sure they would 
have given their lives to protect her, and she had the 
same confidence in them. 

On the following day I travelled far from 

13 193 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

the camp, to the west of the swamp, and finally 
approached some foothills wliich I presume com- 
mence to rise here towards the Aberdare Mountains. 
Nothing but the usual game was encountered, until 
finally, in an open spot, I saw what looked to be a 
leopard and three cubs sitting up and watcliing us in- 
tently. They had evidently seen us from a long dis- 
tance, and as soon as I got the glasses on them they 
dashed away up the hill and disappeared. It seemed 
a useless proceeding to hunt all that hill in the hope of 
encountering them, but we did it. After worming our 
way all around the top and sides for three or four hours, 
something underneath a tree attracted our attention, 
and the animal immediately sat up with all her family 
around her. My first shot broke her front legs, and she 
turned a somersault forward from the little elevation on 
w^hich she was sitting, and, with a growl, whirled around 
as well as she could in her crippled condition. ]My 
second shot laid her out, but did not kill her. At the 
fii'st shot, the cubs dashed off into the bush, and I picked 
up a small rifle in an effort to get one but missed. I 
then approached the wounded animal, and found her 
full of fight, even though mortally wounded. A shot in 
the head finished her, when we discovered that instead 
of being a leopard, it was a fine female cheetah, measur- 
ing seventy-seven and one-half inches from tip of nose 
to tip of tail, and in good fur. I was delighted to get 
this specimen which was the 'only one I saw. I under- 
stand that in some districts they are quite plentiful, 

194 



LION HUNTING BY NIGHT AND DAY 

though rarely seen. They certainly were not numerous 
where we were. 

On the way back to camp, we met a Masai, who was 
tending a large herd of cattle, sheep, and goats, and was 
apparently a long way from his village. He had robbed 
an ostrich nest and gave my porters three of the eggs. 
It is against the law to disturb the nests of these birds, 
so, as I could not return the eggs, I confiscated them. 
We tried to make an omelet out of one of them, but 
did not find it very attractive, and the men in our camp 
had no use whatever for the contents of the eggs, declar- 
ing that they did not like them. 

Williams constructed another zareba at the opposite 
end of the swamp from where we had been the preced- 
ing night, and near where Mrs. Madeira and I had 
seen lion and elephant tracks. There was here a little 
water-hole to which the animals came down from the 
neighboring plains and liills. The preceding day zebra 
had been there in hundreds, so we felt sure there would 
be no difficulty in getting bait. The uncertainty of 
these animals was evidenced here, however, for though 
Williams hunted all the afternoon for them, and saw 
quantities, they were so wild that it was impossible 
to get within shooting distance. The result was that 
he had no bait, but he finally decided to stay in the 
zareba and watch to see if any animals would come do^vn 
to water. He hoped that a lion would be among ttiem, 
but his night was entirely uneventful, nothing appear- 
ing. He returned to camp verj?- much done up from the 
two nights' hard watching in the zarebas. 

195 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

jMy Somali gun-bearer, Ali Mirra, was ill the fol- 
lowing day, so I left alone with Baccari for a long trip 
eastward towards Kenia and the Engobit River, in 
country which so far we had not touched. On our way 
we saw great numbers of ostriches, wliich, I have so far 
neglected to mention, we frequently encountered in our 
hunts. We also passed various herds of zebra. Grant's, 
Tommies, and eland. At the point on the Engobit River 
which we reached, we found the stream dried up with 
the exception of a few stagnant pools, around which lion 
tracks were innumerable, some of them being the largest 
foot-prints of this animal that we saw on the entire trip. 
We followed the spoor for hours along the bank of the 
river, but the brute was apparently travelling far and 
we failed to run across liim or any of the others whose 
tracks we crossed every little while. 

On our way home, coming out of a thick clump 
of thorn-trees, and before crossing an open plain, about 
a half mile wide, and with grass a foot high, we noticed 
some zebra, but no other game. We came out in the 
apen and proceeded to cross, but were astonished to 
find the zebra, who could not have smelled us and ap- 
parently did not see us, dash across our front in a solid 
line, like a troop of cavalry. They were three or four 
hundred yards away. Upon putting the glasses on 
them, I discovered that they were chasing, or apparently 
so, a lioness, which was bounding along some fifty to 
seventy-five yards in advance. They were galloping 
as hard as they could, and so was she. The lioness was 

196 



LION HUNTING BY NIGHT AND DAY 

maldng for some broken bush country, and we im- 
mediately struck across the angle after her. We caught 
sight of her later, after she had reached the timber and 
escaped from the zebra, but we could not get within 
shooting distance. I do not pretend to decide M'hether 
the zebra were chasing the lioness, or whether it was 
merely by accident that their charge had roused her 
from the long grass where she might have been asleep, 
but the fact remains that they followed her at the short 
distance stated for two or three hundred yards, either 
unconscious of her presence until it was too late to stop, 
or deliberately chasing her in a solid body. It hardly 
seems as if the latter would be possible, although she 
was in plain sight and so close to them that they could 
not have failed to see her. This incident would give an 
excellent foundation for an interpretation, which I do 
not attempt. 

Having been up all night, Williams rested during 
the forenoon, and late in the afternoon went out to his 
scrval preserves, and brought in the third of these 
animals that he had succeeded in capturing. He also 
saw a leopard, and found the pool of a hippopotamus at 
the upper edge of the swamp. Innumerable zebras 
were around our camp at this time. 

Early the following morning I rode into Rumeruti 
and called upon Mr. A. J. Collier, the District Com- 
missioner, procuring from him a Masai guide, or rather 
two of them, as they always go in couples. It is rarely 
that one native guide will go alone. He generally has 

197 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

to have a companion, whether as protection or for 
what reason, I do not know, but it is a custom. 

This companionsliip which the natives require when 
they are out acting as guides shows man}^ curious traits. 
One pictures them as wild and barbarous, and appar- 
ently devoid of affection for their fathers, mothers, 
brothers, or children, so it seems incongruous to find 
them holding each other's hands, like a couple of school- 
girls, when walking together. Sometimes one will 
throw his arm affectionately over the shoulder of the 
other, and in many ways evidence a companionship and 
a feeling of affection that cannot be credited. I was 
struck by it on many different occasions. The women 
sit and hold hands, and, in fact you sometimes see men 
doing the same thing, but you realize that either would 
unhesitatingly abandon the other if he were injured or 
incapable of keeping up with the march. I never could 
understand this peculiarity. 

As meat was getting scarce, I shot a Tommie on my 
way back to camp. I found Wilhams in liis tent, quite 
ill with a touch of the sun and a high fever, possibly 
occasioned by his exposure to the mosquitoes which in- 
fested the swamp near which he had spent the preceding 
night in the zareba. 



CHAPTER XIX 

MORE OF LIONS 

February 13th we left the Pesi Swamp, and, going 
eastward, followed the road to Nyeri for a number of 
miles, then turned to the north and found the dry bed 
of the Engobit River where Baccari and I had been the 
day before. We again turned eastward for about two 
hours' march, then camped on the Sugari River at a 
point where zebra were innumerable. Herds of ten to 
twenty were in sight in every direction, and we felt 
confident that hons must be plentiful where their favor- 
ite food was so easy to secure as it must be at this spot. 
And indeed, lion tracks were everywhere, all big ones, 
and crossing in every direction. From our camp that 
night we heard lions on three different sides. I was 
always under the impression that lions would be heard 
roaring, but, as a matter of fact, I heard only one roar 
all the time I was in Africa, and the sound of it is 
wonderful when heard out in the open. The usual 
sound a lion makes is a peculiar sighing grunt, or cough, 
and it is these sounds to which I allude as being audible 
so constantly. 

The fever still affected Williams, so he made only 
a short trip that afternoon, but he secured a fine impalla 
within fifteen minutes of the camp. He also saw leop- 
ards and a serval. I went rather farther away, up on 

199 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

the hills and out to the plains about a mile or two east- 
ward of the camp, and there left a kill in an exposed 
position so that if any lions were around I should have a 
chance to locate them while they were feeding the fol- 
lowing morning. This I found, to my sorrow, was a 
great mistake, for at dawn the next day I could not 
approach closer than about seven hundred yards with- 
out coming out of the cover of the trees. Upon scan- 
ning the kill with my glasses, I found that a lion and a 
lioness were busily engaged in feeding on it. A short 
distance off were a hyena and a jackal. These two 
beasts would make short dashes in the direction of the 
lions, and when they got too noisy and too familiar, one 
of the latter would make a rush in the direction of the 
disturbers, then return to the zebra and proceed with the 
gorging. The lion did not have a mane, but was easily 
distinguishable from the Honess. Very few lions appar- 
ently do have manes, except in menageries. I was 
always under the impression that the mane was distinc- 
tive of the male, but here I found such was not the case. 
He may have a little more hair around the head, but it 
rarely attains the full growth of the magnificent mane 
which so often distinguishes the male Hon in captivity. 
Black-maned lions are a rarity, and are considered the 
greatest prize obtainable. There is no permanent spe- 
cific difference between the yellow-maned and the black- 
maned, as they will develop in cubs born in the same 
litter, the black being merely an accidental coloring, 
which, however, is handsomer and more desirable. 

200 



MORE OF LIONS 

I attempted to crawl near these lions on the plain, 
but they sighted me when I was still five or six hundred 
yards away, and promptly decamped. We ran after 
them as fast as we could, but although they would stop 
every few hundred yards for breath and stand and 
look at us, we could not catch up to them. They looked 
like great skulking St. Bernard puppies, when distinctly 
seen through the glasses, their stomachs distended and 
hanging almost to the ground. Thinking that they 
would probably lie down in the first convenient place, 
we beat through the bushes in every direction, followed 
up all the diy nullas, which were here plentiful, and 
did not cease our search for them until one o'clock, when 
we were nearly exhausted from the heat. After stop- 
ping for an hour or two for lunch under the shade of a 
tree, as was customary, we resumed our hunt, and later 
in the afternoon encountered some very large Grant's 
gazelle and a band of Jackson's hartebeest. I missed 
the biggest buck in the former, and could not get a 
shot at the latter, though I pursued them for three or 
four miles. Returning to camp, following the river, I 
left a zebra as bait, and this time corrected my mistake 
of the preceding day by locating it in a convenient place 
for stalking from every direction. I had been on my 
feet nearly twelve hours, and had been steadily walking, 
running or crawling the whole time, so I w as thoroughly 
tired out. 

Rising by candle-light at four o'clock the next 
morning, I secured a position commanding the zebra 

201 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

which I had left the preceding night, and which 
to our bitter disappointment, was untouched. WiUiams 
had left two kills the preceding day in another 
direction, and likewise found liis undisturbed by- 
lions, though one of them had been entirely eaten by 
hj^enas. When he had located these the preceding 
afternoon, a curious native superstition was shown 
by Esau, one of the gun-bearers, who took a handful of 
dirt, and, with some incantations of his own and per- 
iecily unintelligible to every one else, deposited a few 
grains of dirt in each of the ears of the zebra that had 
not been skinned. He then proceeded to make some 
magic signs, and announced with a firm conviction that 
this performance would prevent the carcass from being 
touched by hyenas. As I have said, this zebra had not 
been skinned, while the other one had. The two car- 
casses had been left not more than two hundred yards 
apart, and in the morning it was found that the hyenas 
had eaten the one wliich had been skinned, and, curiously 
enough, had not touched the other, upon which the in- 
cantations had been performed. This thoroughly con- 
firmed Esau's belief in the magic, which he said was 
infallible. We began to believe that somebody had put 
magic of this kind on the lions, and were somewhat 
discouraged at our past failures, and at the prospect that 
seemed to be ahead of us. 

It is difficult to appreciate the uncertainty of lion- 
hunting. There was one European sportsman who 
arrived at Mombasa about a month after we did, and 

202 



MORE OF LIONS 

who upon applying to the District Commissioner for 
advice as to where to shoot, had the official entirely- 
nonplussed, as he explained to me later. The com- 
missioner realized that there were so many parties all 
through the desirable countr}^ such as we were in, that 
it would hardly do to send the newcomer following after 
their trail, so in despair advised him to go to a point 
on the raih-oad midway to Nairobi and spend a week 
there, the idea being that it would give him — the Com- 
missioner — time to think out a district to allot. The 
sportsman followed the advice, and at the end of the 
week wired back that he had gotten everything he 
wanted in that section of the country, including several 
varieties of most desirable game, among them being 
rhinos, giraffes, and seven lions! 

We returned on the same ship with tliis gentleman 
and he told me his stoiy, which was somewhat as fol- 
lows. The second day he was out his men noticed some 
birds hovering around in the air, which is the usual 
signal for something dead being in sight below them. 
Approaching the indicated spot very carefully, he 
found three lions engaged eating a waterbuck. Good 
shooting dropped two of them without the slightest 
difficulty. Two days later, when making camp near a 
small river, our friend was sitting in his tent, waiting 
for his lunch. The cook went down to the stream to 
draw water, and instantly returned, shouting, *' Bwana! 
Simba, Simba ! " Taking both his rifles, our lucky 
friend proceeded to the river bank about one hundred 

203 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

yards away and on the other side, on a sandy beach, 
he saw three drowsy Hons lying in the sun not more 
than fifty yards off. He bagged all three of them. 

His good luck still did not forsake him, for a couple 
of days later he found another lion kill, built a zareba, 
spent one night in it, and secured two more hons, mak- 
ing his total seven for less than one week. After this 
I believe he saw no hons, but his good fortune, and 
with all due credit it must be said, his straight shoot- 
ing, had given liim a fine bag, with little trouble. He 
had hunted for them very little, yet we who had now 
been out some three months, had worked incessantly, 
and without success. 

Another American sportsman, who was in very 
much the same country as we were, but shortly before 
us (and this we found out afterwards), had taken with 
him about four or five ponies, and hunted for lions only. 
He bagged fourteen altogether, and had great sport. 
He hunted on horseback, so of course covered a wide 
range of territory. Whenever a lion was flushed, it was 
immediately chased out into the open plains by mounted 
men, and there driven around and around until he stood 
at bay. The hunter then dismounted, approached 
within reasonable gunshot, and despatched him. 

At Rumeruti this same hunter was camped right at 
the fort, from which, indeed, he did a great deal of 
his hunting. One morning, while the men were at 
breakfast, news was brought by natives that elephant 
were in the " boma," or compound belonging to the 

204 



MORE OF LIONS 

fort. Hastily arming themselves, the two sportsmen 
that were there rushed out, and without the shghtest 
difficulty bagged five of the number in this most con- 
venient and easy place. Elephants had not been seen 
around there as long as could be remembered, yet the 
time and the place just happened to fit in to make 
two very happy safaris. 

During the day I encountered some oryx and a 
fine herd of Grant's gazelle. In shooting the buck of 
the latter, the bullet passed clean through him and hit 
a doe, breaking her leg, and making it necessary for 
me to kill her to put her out of misery. Williams also 
got two Grant's, but failed to secure any zebra for the 
zareba which he had intended to construct, and therefore 
he had to abandon this part of the plan for the night's 
amusement. 

About three miles from camp, the following day, 
I saw a lioness, but she was too far away to shoot, and 
was apparently so alarmed by my presence that there 
was no chance of getting near her. We followed the 
tracks and searched all the country, finding many in- 
dications of the presence of lions. There were deep 
nullas, with sandy bottoms overhung with bush, and 
other attractive places for lions to lie up in. 

I met a fine herd of Jackson's, but they were very 
wild, and would not let me approach them, although I 
crawled and stalked for a long distance. After making 
attempts to do this for an hour or two, I decided to 
try to walk them down, and followed steadily after 

205 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

them. Whenever I approached within two or three 
hundred yards, they would start off and run some 
distance. After a couple hours of this, they began to 
get more accustomed to seeing me, and seemed to 
imagine that there was no danger from my proximity. 
This enabled me to get closer each time, and later in the 
afternoon I got near enough to make a stalk, and was 
rewarded by getting both bulls of the herd. I had 
walked them around in a circle, and when I got them 
we were onl}^ three or four miles from camp. I sent 
a runner in for the porters to come out and get the 
meat, while I returned to camp along the edge of the 
swamp. I had not been in this neighborhood very long 
when m}'^ attention was attracted to some black spots 
protruding above the high rushes of the swamp, and 
waited until they developed into the horns of a band 
of waterbuck on their way out to feed on the hills. 
There were seven or eight fine defassas, and I managed 
to get the best of the bunch, the horns of which measured 
about twenty-six inches. 

Numerous signs of leopards having been discovered 
by our men about a quarter of a mile from camp, we 
took some of our meat and tried to rig up a spring- 
gun- trap for these animals. They are very cautious 
about doing anj^thing with a trap, however, and 
studiously avoided my well planned deception. 

About four miles away, in some of our wanderings, 
we had met some Masai with large flocks of sheep 
and goats. We thought it would be well to try a sheep 

206 



MORE OF LIONS 

for lion bait, and gave instructions to our headman to 
secure a couple of them, and to have a zareba buiit at 
the foot of the swamp. Although these instructions 
were most explicit, Ali failed to do as directed, claiming 
that he had not understood. The result was we had 
the zareba, but no bait. 

We concluded that the game in our immediate 
vicinity had been thoroughly alarmed so on February 
17th we moved up-stream about an hour's march, just 
above the Nyeri-Rumeruti road. We camped where 
Colonel Patterson had been when he had built his zareba 
near the dead eland. Apparently much of the game had 
really moved from the neighborhood where we had been 
for we found it quite plentiful again in the direction 
we were going. 

The sheep that had been sent for the preceding day 
arrived during the morning, and was given into the 
charge of the Somalis. A steinbuck for our table was 
shot but otherwise strict quiet was kept. Our men were 
instructed to repair the zareba which Colonel Patterson 
had constiaicted when he was there. But though it was 
full moon, the only result was a sleepless, uncomfortable 
night, spent with every faculty alert, not even a hyena 
appearing to reward our watch. 

In the following forenoon we all rested, pretty well 
done up by the irksome night. In the afternoon I went 
up-stream and located a reedbuck, far up on the bluffs 
above me. I wounded him, but not badly, and then 
commenced a long up and dowTi hill search in an en- 

207 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

deavor to get the horns, which were quite desirable. I 
was anxious to secure this specimen, for I had not had 
any success in hunting this variety, which is the common 
reedbuck. But neither of us on our entire trip obtained 

one. 

The country here was ideal for lions, and no doubt 
there were many of them about, but they did not show 
up in daylight. Williams had another zareba construc- 
ted some distance away from the first one, and sat up 
all night with his gun-bearer, I having declined the 
invitation to accompany liim. In the morning he related 
that one leopard and six servals had approached his 
sheep and that hyenas had appeared no less than thirty- 
eight times. Whether there were thirty-eight different 
hyenas or one hyena thirty-eight times, he could not 
tell, but he was engaged all night in throwing stones 
at them to keep them away from the sheep. He had 
also hurled similar missiles at the leopard, for as he 
was hunting lions, he did not care to have his sheep 
killed by anything else. He said that it had been a most 
exciting night, so far as interest was concerned, for it 
was difficult to distinguish a hyena from a lion until 
he got pretty close. 

I went up-stream as soon as Williams returned, at 
dawn, flushing steinbuck and impalla, although my 
main object was to search for the reedbuck which I 
had wounded the day before. We hoped to locate it by 
the birds, which are the great indicators of wounded or 
dead game throughout the country, but in this instance 
they failed me and I returned to camp empty-handed. 

208 



MORE OF LIONS 

As soon as an animal is killed, or severely injured, 
it is interesting to watch the rapidity with which the 
birds will appear. The sky above may be absolutely 
without a speck, but wdthin five minutes you notice 
in the sky a little spot, like a fly, so far away and indis- 
tinct is it. Gradually it circles round and grows larger, 
then others appear, and within possibly ten minutes 
after the animal's fall the sky is filled with circling birds 
coming from all four quarters of the compass. If you 
are out of sight, or far away, the circles come closer 
and closer, and finally, with a great swoop, a flapping 
of wings, and noisy clatter, the whole flock settles down 
and commences to fight for the spoils. The congrega- 
tion is of all varieties. Great marabou storks that stand 
between four and five feet high, and are ridiculous with 
their dignity and strut, stay on the outside circle await- 
ing the commencement of operations. Buzzards of 
various kinds and colors, hawks, brown, brown and 
white, and mottled, all mix together in a great mass of 
plumage, fighting and struggling for the choice morsels. 

The head of an animal is first immediately attacked, 
the eyes picked out, then the nose and tongue. They 
then proceed at the belly, and, if left alone, in an incred- 
ibly short time they complete the clean-up, and nothing 
remains but the bare bones, picked as white as if they 
had been scraped. Gorged to surfeit and so heavy that 
they can hardly fly, the birds sit around on the ground 
or on low branches of nearby trees, and it is some time 
before they recover sufficiently to fly away. This pecu- 

U 209 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

liar faculty of the birds is of great assistance in hunting, 
for many a lion, as well as other game, has been located 
by watching the birds foregather in the sky. 

A wounded animal is thus readily traced and often 
recovered by the natives, who will tell you that they can 
secure the animal's head the next day, for they roam 
wide and far, looking for the feathered tell-tales wliich, 
with remarkable frequency, enable them to make good 
their promise. In marching along the country caution 
should always be observed if birds are gathering or col- 
lecting on tree tops, for there is pretty sure to be a dead 
animal nearby, on which is feeding a lion, a leopard, or 
a hyena. Many a shot at one of these can be obtained 
by a cautious stalk when the birds' signal is seen. 

After a long and difficult hunt, Williams had the 
good luck to secure the second orj^x allowed by his 
license. He saw a leopard and her cub, but was unable 
to get a shot. The orj^ had aj)parently the same elusive 
nature with him that the wart-hog had with me for so 
long, for while I had had numerous opportunities to 
kill oryx, he had had very few. After he had secured 
the first one, he had had to cover an incredible number 
of miles in liis effort to get liis second. He shot his 
first one on January 28th, and it was three weeks later 
before the other fell a victim to his marksmanship. 



CHAPTER XX 

A LIONESS IS KILLED 

By this time we were, as the reader no doubt is, get- 
ting tired of lion hunting and its disappointments. 

The men whom we had sent to Rumeruti for the 
mail and for porters' food now returned, bringing with 
them the alum and the supplies for which we had sent to 
Gil Gil. On February 21st we broke camp and moved 
farther down the Sugari, passing our old camping 
ground. At the head of the swamp I again secured a 
defassa waterbuck, this one with even better horns than 
the other, measuring about twenty-seven inches. 

Williams took the high ground up to the right of the 
caravan, after Jackson's hartebeest. He wounded one 
badly but it led liim a long chase and kept well ahead of 
him, although he was mounted on quite a fair mule. 
After an hour or two he suddenly came in sight of a 
lion, and, spurring and whipping his mule, he gave 
chase. He was gaining on the beast, regardless of 
whether he killed the mule in so doing, and was almost 
within gunshot, when he ran plumb on to a big rhino, 
which rose up in his path, and threw the mule on his 
haunches. He could not pass the huge brute without 
danger, as the latter was threatening to charge, so he 
was forced to dismount and shoot him, during which the 
lion got away. The rhino was the biggest secured by 

211 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

either of us on the trip, the front horn measuring 
twenty-seven inches, with a good second one, both hav- 
ing tremendously big circumference. Good lion luck 
did not seem to be with us. 

Washington's Birthday saw us on the move down 
the Sugari River, through country which we could not 
beheve had been much hunted, as game was plentiful 
and not very wild. The river ran through a deep gorge, 
the bottom of which spread out at intervals into wide 
meadows and was sometimes heavily covered with bush 
and trees. Fine timber on a rising hillside bordered it 
on the other side. Almost any kind of game might 
have been found nearby. We saw one magnificent herd 
of impalla, about sixty-three in number, ^vitli several 
fine bucks. This herd, however, was very wild, and it 
was impossible to get near them. We saw them all day 
long at different points, for they seemed to keep ahead 
of us, but no matter how carefully or cautiously we 
stalked them, they would not permit us to get closer than 
three or four hundred yards. 

The river was very much dried up and water was 
scarce, so we were much concerned about where we 
should camp, for we feared perhaps there was no water 
ahead of us. We therefore scouted well in advance of 
the safari, accompanied only by our gun-bearers and 
Masai guides. 

In coming around a bend in the woods which 
here fringed the river, Mrs. Madeira thought she 
saw something moving through the grass far 

212 



A LIONESS IS KILLED 

ahead, and Williams, who happened at that time 
to be riding at the head of the safari, dismounted 
and went forward to investigate. He soon discov- 
ered it to be only a jackal, which, however, led him 
to within sight of a lioness that was samitering along 
undisturbed and in no hurry. Occasionally she would 
sit down, like a cat, to clean her paws or scratch, afford- 
ing a beautiful opportunity for a stalk, especially as the 
country was favorable. He began to creep up on her 
most carefully, while we retired behind the trees out of 
sight. 

The Masai guides became so worked up at the 
thought of lions, which they were sure WiUiams was stalk- 
ing from our excitement and silence, that they became 
uncontrollable, and broke away in spite of my threats 
that I would shoot them if they did not keep quiet, and 
the entreaties of my gun-bearers, who aided me in every 
way to restrain them. Finally, brandishing their spears 
and running Hke mad, they broke from the cover. The 
flash of the spears in the sunlight evidently caught the 
eye of the lioness, for just as Williams was getting 
ready to shoot she dashed away and disappeared in the 
underbrush, much to our disgust. We proceeded to 
read the riot act to the Masai guides. We threatened 
to give them a beating or to shoot them outright, if they 
ever did such a thing again, and we hoped that the 
earnestness with which we made these threats would be 
sufficient to deter them in the future from any such 
misconduct. 

213 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Tracks of lions were here so thick that we decided to 
camp and hunt the country for a day or so. While 
waiting for the safari to come up, we all sat down and 
made some extremely uncomplimentary remarks about 
lions and the Masai. Williams was disgusted, and 
declared that he had been endeavoring to get Mons in 
Africa for some years, and that during our recent hunt- 
ing he had taken the greatest ca.re not to alarm them 
by shooting or other noises, yet all seemed unavailing, 
so that, lion or no lion, noise or no noise, he would now 
go out and shoot a guinea-hen for lunch. About one 
hundred and fifty yards away from where we were sit- 
ting was a good-sized tree that was literally covered 
with guinea-hens, which were chattering and making 
all sorts of noises. Picking up his shotgun, he walked 
to within about thirty yards of the tree and potted a 
hen which immediately dropped to the ground. Im- 
mediately up rose a lion and two lionesses, wliich had 
been lying under the tree, and certainly not more than 
thirty yards from where he stood with a shotgun, one 
barrel of which had been fired. 

This took place within eyesight of where Mrs. 
Madeira and I sat, and I instantly picked up 
my .450 and his, and, calling for the gun-bearers, 
ran out to him. Two of the lions disappeared to 
the right, and one to the left, where it entered a 
small swamp of high grass. Some of the porters fol- 
lowed us, and when we reached the foot of the swamp 
we spread out into a line to beat it and drive out the 

214 



A LIONESS IS KILLED 

lioness. I took the centre of the Hne of beaters, and 
Wilhams took the edge of the swamp, following at a 
slight elevation on the hillside, so that he could cover 
both sides in case our quarry broke out. We advanced 
in solid line througli the grass, which was about waist 
high, until we reached the centre of the swamp, at 
which point a rhino had been grazing and had cropped 
the grass short for quite a wide extent. 

As I came out of the tall grass, I saw the 
lioness standing on the edge of the swamp among 
some trees, looking at me, about seventy-five yards 
away. There was quite a tliick bush between me 
and her, and I was afraid it would deflect my 
buUet, so I cautiously took two steps to get past the 
bush, then I raised my rifle. Just as I got the sight 
on her my fool of a gun-bearer pushed my shoulder and 
said, " Shoot, Sahib, shoot!" Of course the push en- 
tirety destroyed my aim, and before I could recover it 
the lioness jumped. Williams had seen this proceeding 
from his side, and quickly ran around the other end of 
the swamp, getting a bead on the lioness as she went 
past, about eighty yards away. The first shot stiiick her 
in the hindquarters and knocked her over, but she im- 
mediately turned to come at him, when he gave her the 
other barrel, which hit her in the shoulder and knocked 
her down again. Upon approaching her, as she still con- 
tinued to struggle, he gave her a third shot. We then 
closed around her, and found her apparently stone-dead. 
One of the porters went up to her, and taking hold of 

215 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

her tail, started to pull her out of a Httle dip she had 
fallen into, and his alarm was almost comical when he 
found she was not as dead as had been thought. Wil- 
liams put a final shot of the small gun into her, which 
stopped all evidences of life. She was a fine, big lioness, 
in good condition. 

As soon as the shooting took place, the entire camp 
came out in a body, knowing that something had hap- 
pened and great was the rejoicing on the part of all 
hands, and our congratulations were hearty and sincere. 
When the Honess was carried into camp the greatest 
commotion occurred and a regular ovation was given to 
Williams for his success. 

Under a tree a short distance from where the three 
lions were lying when disturbed by the killing of the 
guinea-hen, the porters who had followed us out had 
discovered a dead zebra, which was evidently the kill 
upon which the lions had been feeding. Hard at work 
chewing on this zebra meat, and filling their little 
stomachs were two lion cubs, apparently six weeks old. 
They had evidently been deserted by their mother, which 
was not one of the three which we found. After some 
little chase, the men caught one of the cubs, and tried to 
catch the other, but he was too cunning and escaped into 
the bush. 

The one cub was brought into camp and pre- 
sented to Mrs. Madeira, and upon my arrival I found 
him there, with the porter asking for the customary 
backsheesh, which I gave him and squared accounts. 

216 



A LIONESS IS KILLED 

We then had to devote considerable attention to the 
cub and the dead lioness, photographing both, and build- 
ing a box cage for the cub, and our afternoon was taken 
up with this labor. The honess measured seventy-two 
inches in a straight line from tip of nose to root of tail. 
The tail was twenty-seven inches long; height at 
shoulder, thirty-three inches ; girth of forearm, fourteen 
and one-half inches ; girth of foreleg above elbow, nine- 
teen inches ; girth of body behind shoulder, forty inches. 
She had one broken front tooth, and a bad hole in one 
in the lower jaw, which looked as if it might have caused 
a very bad ache. 

The lioness was immediately skinned, for I under- 
stand that their skin is very delicate and hard to pre- 
serve and unless it is taken off the body as soon as the 
animal is killed, great difficulty is experienced in 
properly setting the hair. The men, of course, would 
not eat lion meat, but in passing through the camp later 
in the day, I noticed that one of the tribes had cut out 
the heart and intended to eat it, having a superstition 
that this kind of food makes them courageous them- 
selves. As a matter of fact, I presume they did eat it. I 
do not know whether a lion will eat the meat of another 
lion, but hyenas will, and they devoured this lion the 
following day. 

The strength of a lion must be tremendous, for 
when skinned the muscular development which showed 
was greater than anything I had ever seen. The 
paws were enormous, and the claws as sharp as needles. 
The under side of the claws has a little hollow groove 

317 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

in it which is filled with all sorts of poison from bad 
meat and other decayed matter, and it is this that 
renders the scratch from a lion ahnost as fatal as his 
bite, blood-poisoning almost invariably following the 
touch of the poisonous nails. We had to be very careful 
in handling the skin, not to be infected by the claws. 

The cub was a cute little beggar, but as savage as 
could be, growling whenever anybody came near it. 
Dheria had tied a strap around his neck, and fastened 
it to my bed, and the cub instantly sought a secluded 
spot behind some boxes and resented the slightest 
attempt to coax him out. After we had built a box 
for him and mixed up some condensed milk and water 
and a few shreds of meat, which he ate, he retired and 
proceeded to go to sleep. I thought that he would mew 
like a cat or kitten, but instead he gave vent con- 
stantly to a tiny little squeak that sounded entirely 
out of proportion to liis size, and especially to his 
nature. We anticipated great trouble in teaching 
him to lap milk, and indeed there was ; but before long 
hunger drove him to it, and he took his condensed milk 
freely and ate a small quantity of carefully shredded 
meat, which became his daily rations. Having but a 
limited supply of condensed milk, and fearing that it 
might not agree with him as well as fresh milk, we sent 
him the following day to Rumeruti, where fresh milk 
could be obtained, for we were anxious to save him and 
bring him home. 

We then made careful examination of the place 
where the lions had been and also of the lion kill. Here 

218 




LIONESS 

(Fells leo) 



A LIONESS IS KILLED 

as on almost all other occasions where a lion had struck 
down an animal, I noticed the remarkable skill with 
which he disembowels his prey. The latter generally- 
showed that he had been bitten through the back of the 
neck, close up to the skull. After the victim falls, the 
lion proceeds to disembowel him, which he does by re- 
moving the envelope containing the stomach without 
puncturing it, and his work is as neat as that of a 
butcher. The entrails are then left in one place, and 
the Hon drags the carcass away from it, often a long 
distance. This appears to be an invariable custom, and 
it is done with the greatest neatness. I believe the first 
of the meat the lion goes for is the heart, liver, lungs, 
and such dainties as that, and afterwards eats the 
hindquarters. 

We continued our hunt for similar game, beating 
the marsh and bushes in every direction, but saw nothing 
except the customarj^ zebra. Tommies, and Grants. I 
was here without the services of Ali Mirra, my head 
gun-bearer, whom we had left at Rumeruti, owing to his 
breaking down from wounds which he had received on 
former hunting trips. These, with the hard work and 
continual hunting that we had been having, had told on 
him, and he was left to recuperate, so as to join us on 
our way out. He was instructed to take care of our cub, 
and also to look after the skins and heads which we 
had left at the fort. 

The next couple of days brought no results except 
a duiker, which Williams managed to secure, and which 
w^as the only one of this variety that we obtained. We 

219 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

saw numbers of them in the long grass, but they dashed 
away hke jack-rabbits, only about twice as fast, and 
escaped every shot we fired at them. This particular 
animal was obtained with a shotgun. It was about 
seventeen inches at the shoulder, and of a very dark, red 
brown color. The horns are placed close together on 
top of the skull and branch out at quite an angle. They 
are ringed part way up, have smooth points, and are 
quite short, being only two to four inches long, with a 
spread of about two and one-half inches. The face 
glands are some distance below the eye, and look as 
if they were gashes in the skin. Both sexes have horns, 
but the does are smaller and smoother. Duikers are ex- 
cellent eating, as are all the small antelopes. 

I managed to bag a wart-hog, which was a great 
satisfaction to me, and also made a great effort to secure 
some specimens of rock-rabbits, which I had never be- 
fore seen. I located some about four or five miles from 
camp, on a rather high knoll of rock, and watched them 
running around like so many tailless rats. I bagged 
one with a shotgun, but was too close to him, the shot 
mutilating him so that he was not worth saving. They 
look hke great muskrats without tails, and dwell among 
huge boulders and rocks, and are numerous in many 
parts of the country. In addition to his other bag, 
Williams secured an impalla and a steinbuck. I twice 
wounded an impalla, but apparently not badly enough 
to cripple him, for although I pursued him a long 
distance, he got away from me, much to my regret. 

220 



CHAPTER XXI 

GIRAFFE HUNTING ON THE GUASO NYIRO 

On February 26th we moved camp from the Sugari 
River, which we had been following for several days, to 
the Guaso Nyiro, which we reached across some very 
rough country in a short march of two hours. We found 
it here to be a fine, wide running stream, half as big 
as the Tana. The country was entirely different from 
anything that we had yet seen. We continued our 
march for two or three hours through rather thick bush 
and along the river, the banks of which were fringed 
with tliick bushes of euphorbias, cactus-like in nature, 
amongst which grew some trees of moderate height. 
Through this bush, close to the river, ran the trail. The 
countr}^ rose rapidly to some hills about a quarter of a 
mile away, terminating in rocky cliffs. From the trail 
to the base of the cliffs, where the land was more or less 
broken, were scattered bushes and a thin sprinkhng of 
trees. Indeed, at intervals the bush would spread out 
into a dense, jungle-like formation, almost meeting over 
the trail and apparently impenetrable. The rocks were 
all reddish brown and the soil a similar color. Across 
the river the country looked much more open, and 
although rolling, gave nowhere such an appearance of 
jungle vegetation as on the south side on which we 
traveled. 

221 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

The trail bore the footprints of different kinds of 
game and every now and then amongst them could be 
seen the spoor of buffalo, a herd of which are known 
to be located near the junction of the Guaso Nyiro and 
Guaso Narok, but in the densest kind of bush country, 
making them extremely hard to get at. Smaller ante- 
hope, leopard and serval cat tracks were frequent. 
The whole country here was quite bold and rocky. 

On this march Williams secured our first dikdik, a 
species of antelope which we had not heretofore seen. 
He is the smallest of all the antelopes, standing only 
fourteen inches high at the shoulder and weighing 
about seven pounds. The fur on the back looks like a 
gray squirrel's, and the legs are brown, with very short, 
fine hair on them. The feet are tiny little things not 
much larger than one's finger-nail, and the horns, which 
are heavily ringed at the bottom, do not exceed three 
inches in length. The top of the head has a tuft of 
quite long hair lying between the horns and almost liid- 
ing them. The dikdik's nose is very long and looks like 
a tapir's, as if at some time it had been more or less of 
a trunk. The eyes are a very reddish brown, in fact, 
almost red. It is necessary to get them with a shotgun, 
as a bullet would blow them to pieces. 

On this march I bagged the best impalla which we 
had secured, with twenty-seven and one-half -inch horns 
and fifteen one-half-inch spread. I later missed another 
which looked equally fine. 

It was extremely hot in this country, the temperature 

222 





i^aste:V«Saiii„. 




GIRAFFE HUNTING ON THE GUASO NYIRO 

in our tent in the middle of the day reaching 103°, while 
the nights were corresponding cold. Hunting here 
seemed to be difficult and not very promising, so we 
moved camp a four hours' march down the stream. 
Here the vegetation entirely changed, and we lost signs 
of nearly everything but euphorbia, which latter were 
growing in every conceivable form, from a tangled mass 
like vines to great trees shaped like candelabra. Wait- 
a-bit thorns were also plentiful, and this kind of vegeta- 
tion closely lined the river-bank as far back as we could 
see. There was a narrow game path which led along 
the bank through this otherwise impenetrable jungle, 
and wiiich was just wide enough for marcliing in single 
file, and sufficiently narrow for the thorns to tear one's 
clothes and catch in every exposed portion of skin. 

Before we entered this dense growth, I had managed 
to secure a dikdik, with two and seven-eighths-inch 
horns, a very good specimen, and shot another which 
I could not recover. It ran a short distance, then 
burrowed underneath the deep grass and crept and 
crawled along like a rabbit. We remained around there 
for an hour or more, trying to find it, but finally we 
had to give up the hunt. Its gray color, much like sun- 
burnt, dried-up grass, made it almost indistinguishable 
at the distance of a few yards. I also encountered a 
rhino on the way, and saw one bushbuck out of range 
on the north side of the river. 

We camped at the junction of the Guaso Nyiro and 
the Guaso Narok, crossing the river to the north side. 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

over a ford which had apparently long been the water- 
ing place for cattle and game, and especially for the 
latter, as there was no other point within a distance of 
several miles where the bank sloped sufficiently to give a 
good watering place. 

We found encamped here two English sportsmen 
who were finishing up a shooting trip all around the 
world. They had already put in two years in other 
parts of the globe, and they were now just commencing 
their African hunt. Their experiences in many coun- 
tries, which they related to us as we sat around the camp- 
fire in the evening, were most interesting. 

On the way down the river we had passed many 
trees decorated with Wandorobo honey pots. These are 
hollowed logs about four feet long and a foot in 
diameter, which the Wandorobo dig out and then plug 
up the ends, leaving a small entrance for the bees. The 
natives suspend these in trees, and they become private 
property, duly recognized by law. I was told that up 
to a very recent date, if indeed the law is not in force 
now, the first conviction for stealing honey entails a 
beating of fifty blows with a whip, while a second con- 
viction was a capital offence. This would seem to be an 
extreme penalty, but the Wandorobo do not farm, and 
live entirely by the chase, honey being their only source 
of supply outside of meat. Therefore these honey-pots 
are jealously watched to prevent stealing on the part 
of passing safaris, for the African has a sweet tooth and 
will risk a great deal to obtain honey. 

224 



GIRAFFE HUNTING ON THE GUASO NYIRO 

Our new-found friends were encamped on the far- 
ther edge of a broad path from the north which led down 
to the ford of the river at this point. The trail was 
covered a half -inch deep with dust, occasioned by the 
great number of animals coming down to drink, and 
was lined on either side with euphorbia of every conceiv- 
able species. I followed this path when I started out in 
the morning and found that the dust was thick with lion 
and hyena tracks. From the different size lion pugs 
there must have been at least a dozen of these brutes, 
all within from fifty to two hundred yards of the tents 
of the two safaris. The foot-prints of one enterprising, 
possibly man-eating lion showed that he had walked 
entirely around one of the tents occupied by our friends, 
and witliin six inches of it. I fancy that had this visit 
been known at the time, sleep would have been somewhat 
scarce in that tent. A Httle farther back from the river 
the hyena-tracks were even more numerous than the lion- 
tracks. There must have been a great drove of these 
horrid brutes following on the heels of the lions, for in 
every direction where bare ground could be seen, signs 
of them were in evidence. 

I hunted far back on the hills, my object being to 
get a giraffe. I encountered an old rhino on top of a 
hill, alternately lying and standing under the shade of 
a tree, and taking a view of the surrounding country 
from a point of vantage that I should have greatly liked 
myself. I watched him for quite a while, hoping that 
he would depart, but he seemed to have no intention 

15 225 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

of doing so, and spent his time changing his position 
and sniffing the air, possibly somewhat disturbed from 
having caught my scent. I did not care to kill him, as 
he was no better than those which I had. We pro- 
ceeded a little while, w^hen we encountered a porter who 
belonged to our friends' safari, and whose wild, fright- 
ened, and dishevelled appearance attracted our atten- 
tion. Upon questioning him, my men found that he 
had been sent out the preceding day to bring in the 
head of an eland which had been shot, and had lost his 
way. He was pursued b}^ lions, he said (they were 
probably hyenas), and, night coming on, had been 
forced to leave the eland head and seek shelter in an 
abandoned native hut, where he had been besieged by 
wild animals all night. He did not know where he 
had left the eland head or where camp was, and since 
the preceding morning he had been without food and 
was altogether a most disconsolate looking individual. 
We directed him back to his camp, which he reached 
in safety. I understand that when the eland head was 
found it had been ruined by birds and hyenas. 

A few miles beyond we spied a lone giraiFe a long 
distance off, and, dismounting from my mule, I made a 
detour to get the wind in proper direction, and then 
proceeded after him. We followed him for a couple 
of hours, and several times when he stopped for a while 
I endeavored to stalk him, but his vigilance was so great 
and his eyesight so keen that apparently every move- 
ment was noticed by him, and it was impossible to get 

226 





i^;:..._ 




GIRAFFE HUNTING ON THE GUASO NYIRO 

closer than five or six hundred yards, before he would 
start off again. Eventually he joined a herd of about 
nine others, one of which was always on the watch. No 
matter how I hid, they seemed to be able to see me, and 
every now and then they would break off in a long 
swinging gait, and then stop again. After a while they 
disappeared over the brow of a hill, into a clump of 
thorn trees, and then I managed to get within four 
hundred yards of them. They were quite busy feeding 
on the tops of the mimosa trees, and occasionally their 
heads would stick far above the tree-tops, looking like 
the heads of gigantic snakes. 

Whenever the heads disappeared I crawled a little 
closer and finally got to within about three hundred 
yards. I had my eye on the place where the big bull 
had entered the bush, and when he came out again, at 
least as I thought, I promptly fired. He disappeared, 
but immediately returned at the identical spot where he 
was when I fired, and thinking he was the same one, I 
fired again. The whole herd then rushed off with their 
great, rocking gait, and I after them. Soon my quarry 
began to lag, and, catching up, I fired again and 
dropped him. As soon as all the herd had appeared, I 
realized that I had fired at a small one, but I found it 
difficult to gauge proportion of size in animals of such 
height and bulk. 

I cannot describe the impression that I had in seeing 
one of these gigantic beasts fall, but, frankly, it was 
with a great deal of regret that I witnessed it. I have 

227 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

no desire to shoot another giraffe. It looked so help- 
less, and tumbled over as if a church steeple was falling. 
As soon as this one was down, the whole herd stopped 
and stood around, giving easy shots. I could readily 
have bagged as many as I had chosen, and when I saw 
the big one, which I really wanted for the Heads and 
Horns Collection, it was hard to be satisfied with the 
small one that I had got. 

These were the Somah or netted giraffe, and belong 
to an entirely different species from those I had seen 
near the Tana. They are of a deep, dark hver color, with 
very wide white network forming squares all over them, 
and are very much handsomer than the spotted kind. 
My giraffe measured only about twelve feet in height, 
whereas a good one should run about eighteen. 

The men apparently considered the meat very desir- 
able eating, for they burdened themselves up with it to 
a degree that I had not before witnessed. We ourselves 
tried some as currie, and found it quite good. 

The men were all very fond of fat, and this is the 
first tidbit that they go for on butchering an animal — 
if their mutilation can be called butchering. There was 
one rather short porter who had, by some means, ob- 
tained possession of a gray cut-away coat, of which he 
was very proud, and which he always wore, although it 
was extremely hot, and he would have been far more 
comfortable with his native and airy costume. This 
particular friend of mine had secured about half a 
bucket full of soft, most unattractive looking fat, which 
he had taken out of the stomach of the giraffe, and this 

228 




SOMAM GIRAFFE 

{Giruffa reticulata) 



GIRAFFE HUNTING ON THE GUASO NYIRO 

he proceeded to tuck into the pockets of his coat. After 
all the fat was thus stowed away, he found a few more 
crannies, in which he tucked chunks of raw meat. He 
then filled both ends of his staff, which was about five 
feet long, with long strips of meat, making the load as 
heavy as he could stagger under. The top of his head 
was still unoccupied, however, so another good big piece 
about two feet in diameter and bleeding from every 
pore was placed there. He looked like a walking 
butcher shop and staggering under this unattractive and 
gory load, proceeded back to camp. The other porters 
took as much meat, but not being as weU off in the way 
of coats as he was, they could not take the fat. 

While the giraffe was being skinned, I secured a 
very good Grant. The first bullet that hit, I regret to 
say, paunched him, and all his entrails fell out, trailing 
on the ground after him. I hastened to put him out of 
his misery, but he ran seventy-five or a hundred yards 
in this incredible condition before a bullet terminated 
his career. On several occasions I have seen this same 
thing happen. How it is possible for an animal to run 
in such a dreadful condition is hardly credible, but so 
indeed they did, and many others have noticed the same 
wonderful vitality. This is not confined to the ante- 
lopes, but they, the hartebeest, and the oryx are particu- 
larly tenacious of life. 

Shortly afterwards I saw a band of eland, another 
rhino, and innumerable oryx in every direction. Tracks 
of lions and hyenas were almost as numerous over the 
plain as they had been down by the camp. 

339 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE UNCERTAINTIES AND CHANCES IN HUNTING 

It was quite late in the afternoon when we reached 
camp, and I found that there had been no end of trouble 
with our safari. Upon arriving at camp, some of our 
men had found a honey tree, wliich they immediately 
proceeded to rob, by making a small fire at the foot of 
the tree. The blaze had spread through all the dry 
bushes and trees, threatening to bum our entire camp 
and do great damage to the country. It required the 
hardest kind of work on the part of our porters and 
those of our neighbors' to beat the flames out before 
they did much damage. 

During the morning a Wandorobo chief, whose 
village was not far off, had called to complain that our 
porters had stolen his honey-pots while on the road 
yesterday. As I have said, this is a very serious offense, 
so, accompanied by our headman, we made immediate 
search of the porters' tents, to find if such were the 
case. In one of the tents we found some of the honey, 
and the culprits admitted that they had stolen it. They 
were each given ten lashes of the whip in the presence 
of the Wandorobo, who was pacified with this and some 
presents which we gave him. The law provides that 
while ten miles away from a fort or a government 
official, the leader of a safari may punish to the extent 

230 



UNCERTAINTIES AND CHANCES IN HUNTING 

of twenty-five lashes. Nearer than that he must take 
the culprit to the fort for trial and punishment. 

The method of giving the beating makes the scene a 
most unpleasant one. The victim is ordered to lie on his 
stomach, with his arms extended. The askari, who in 
our case was a huge, black negro, about six feet seven 
inches high, takes a limber whip composed of plaited 
strips of rliino skin, a quarter of an inch thick at the 
tip and an inch thick at the handle, and, raising it high 
above his head, he brings it down upon the bare skin 
with all the force at his command. Every time the whip 
strikes a huge welt is raised, and by the time ten are 
given one has had more than enough of the spectacle. 
The culprit, however, makes no complaint, and the 
native spectators, consisting of the entire safari, laugh 
and joke, looking upon it as being quite an occasion, 
and having not the slightest sympathy. After the man 
is beaten, he jumps up and walks off, apparently with- 
out the slightest resentment for the pain which he must 
have felt at the time, and which must continue for many 
days thereafter. 

This excitement had hardly toned down when a riot 
broke out between the men of our safari and our neigh- 
bors ; resulting in a free for all fight, with sticks, stones, 
knob-keiTies, and possibly a few knives. When the 
headman finally got them under control there were ten 
or twelve wounded in our safari alone. Some had their 
heads badly injured, requiring in some instances as 
many as fourteen stitches in their scalps, which were 

231 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

split from the eye to the back of the head, putting these 
men out of service for some time. Immediate surgical 
attention had to be given to them, for in the case of 
two of them, the entire scalp had fallen off the side of 
the head, like an orange which had the peel taken off. 
Unfortunately, we had no surgical needles among our 
medical stores, so the cuts had to be sewed up with darn- 
ing needles and sewing silk supplied by Mrs. Madeira, 
who was impressed into service as a trained nurse, and 
had to hold the skin of the wounds together while 
Williams drove the needle through the almost half -inch 
thick skin of the negroes' heads. I do not know how 
thick the normal scalp is, but in these cases it was per- 
haps abnormally thick owing to their using their heads 
for carrying loads. The greatest difficulty was ex- 
perienced in driving the needle through, and the whole 
jurgical job was most unpleasant. 

After the dispensary was closed, a court of justice 
went into session, and punishment was meted out. The 
ten or twelve men who had been guilty of starting the 
row were given ten lashes apiece with the kiboko. This, 
with the previous punishment, brought the total for that 
day to two hundred in our safari — quite a record. As 
Williams was in camp when I left early in the morning, 
he had been in the midst of all this and had had quite a 
busy time. The neighboring safari also came in for its 
share of punishment from their headman, and that even- 
ing there were a great many sore negroes around the 
junction of the Guaso Nyiro and Guaso Narok. Eat- 

232 



UNCERTAINTIES AND CHANCES IN HUNTING 

ing the evening- meal while standing up was a very com- 
mon and noticeable fashion. 

The following morning we crossed over to the south 
bank of the Guaso Nyiro, which we followed to the 
Guaso Narok, finding a trail on the east bank of the 
latter, in the direction of Rumeruti. We passed a large 
Wandorobo encampment right at the junction and on 
the side of the river on which we were marching. The 
euphorbia jungle here was thicker than we had yet en- 
countered, being almost impenetrable. In fact, a wart- 
hog which Williams shot in a small opening which we 
crossed managed to crawl about twenty feet inside of 
the thicket, and fell dead in plain sight, yet could not 
be recovered, for it would have taken a number of men 
an hour or two to cut through the thorn and vines. 

iThe country lying to the east and along the left 
bank of the river, along which we went, was high, 
rocky, and rolling. After a march of an hour or so, 
to where the river made a bend, we made a short cut, 
crossing the hills and finding innumerable kraals and 
encampments of the Masai scattered all through the 
high lands. They were all deserted, probably on account 
of the scarcity of water, for everything was dried up, 
and it was doubtless necessary to remove flocks to better 
grazing and water. 

We camped at the mouth of a wild and rocky gorge, 
down which ran a beautiful mountain stream of good 
water. For the last week or so I had been hunting 
for an African hare to take home to friends who were 

233 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

interested in animals of this species, but although on 
our march we had seen them in hundreds, when I had 
started out to get one they had become absolutely in- 
visible. To-day my luck changed, and I managed to 
secure one. I gave it to the skinners with the most ex- 
plicit instructions as to the care which should be taken in 
removing the pelt, and my disgust was great when I 
found that they had ripped the skin off in two parts, 
tearing it so that it was absolutely valueless. They 
merely smiled when my displeasure and anger was inter- 
preted to them, and thought it was a joke, for to them 
the hare is of such minor value that they could not see 
why any one should take the trouble to skin it, or care 
what became of it. To them it was merely " meat," and 
anything that was not of sufficient size to furnish a 
large and ample meal was, of course, " no good." 

When I could not get a hare during the next few 
days, I asked Williams to help me. Upon his failure 
to see any, I enhsted all the men in the safari, and 
finally oif ered as high as four rupees — a month's pay — 
for a perfect specimen. As may be imagined, this 
caused the greatest activity as soon as camp was reached. 
By this time the hare ranked second only to a lion in 
importance in my desire, and when we finally reached 
Nairobi without having secured one I asked a couple 
of friends who were residents if they would send me a 
specimen or two. They looked upon it as a joke, it 
seemed so easy, and stated that they would probably 
get it before I left the country. One did not arrive by 

234 



UNCERTAINTIES AND CHANCES IN HUNTING 

that time, so I asked another man, an expert hunter 
and sportsman and a leader of safaris, if he would send 
me one. He likewise undertook the task as a trifling 
incident that could be arranged any day when he had 
a few moments to spare. 

I got the hare a year afterwards! 

My first friend, who undertook it on one of his 
hunting trips, encountered a herd of elephants. He 
shot two, cashed in the ivory, and returned to England, 
giving me failure No. 1. The second friend was Mr. 
Mervyn Ridley, who was with us on the ship going to 
Africa, and his experience on one of his hunting trips 
was almost a tragedy — so close to it, in fact, that he 
will carry a crippled arm with him through life. 

It seems that at noon one August day, after we 
left, he and his partner were in their ranch to the east 
of Fort Hall, and near the junction of the Thika and 
the Tana Rivers, when some Kikuyu came in and asked 
if the " Bwana would be pleased to come out and shoot 
a lion that had just killed two of their cows?" They 
declared that they knew where the beast was lying and 
begged for assistance. Mr. Ridley and his partner were 
all agog for the sport, so off they went. The Kikuyu 
assured Mr. Ridley that the lion was very close at hand, 
" only a little Avay," but it turned out to be twelve miles 
from the ranch — an estimate of distance about as close 
as can be expected of a native. When they reached the 
indicated spot they found a clump of bushes at the foot 
of a slope, and on the sides, watching, were some 

235 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Kikuyu. They had remained to see that the lion did 
not escape while their runner travelled twelve miles to 
the ranch and twelve back. 

The hunters started to drive this bush, while the 
natives stood at a distance and hurled sticks and stones 
into the middle of it. This continued for some five 
minutes and nothing happened, when one of the Kikuyu 
on the bank yelled that they were at the wrong bush, 
and that the lion was in another about twenty yards 
off. They then arranged to beat this one. Ridley, who 
was on the left, went forward, passing quite close to 
the old bush they had driven. His rifle was in his 
right hand and at half cock. He had only gotten level 
with this first clump of bushes when he heard a roar, 
and, turning quickly, he saw a lioness, not a lion, in 
the middle of a charge, about four yards from him. 
Without waiting to get his rifle to his shoulder, he fired 
from the hip, but the bullets had no effect, and in an 
instant she had him by the shoulder and was shaking 
him just like a dog shakes a rat. His companion im- 
mediately rushed up, but was afraid to shoot for fear 
of hitting Ridley, so with guns and sticks they beat her 
and finally actually kicked her off* her victim. What 
Ridley describes " the worst of everything " then hap- 
pened. His partner fired, but only wounded her, and 
they never got the honess after all. 

It would hardly seem to most people that this was 
the worst that had happened when Ridley was so chewed 
and mauled, but he says he was surprised that he felt 

236 



UNCERTAINTIES AND CHANCES IN HUNTING 

no pain when the mauHng was going on, and he did not 
until a few minutes afterwards, when his sufferings 
became ahnost unbearable. The lioness had bitten him 
through the shoulder and the arm, but fortunately had 
missed his neck, wliich she was after. He was badly 
done up, and it was thirty-six hours before they finally 
got him to Fort Hall, where he could receive proper 
medical attention. He remained there two months, six 
weeks of the time in bed. He was in great pain the 
entire time, and it was many months before the wounds 
were healed up and he will carry a stiff arm for life. 

He attributes the accident to bad luck, and to the 
natives not telling him that it was a lioness, which some 
of them knew, and that she had cubs. He would have 
been far more cautious had he known this, for a honess 
with cubs is much more savage than a lion. 

The third hunter who undertook to get a hare for 
me shot five of them, but four of the skins were imper- 
fect, owing to insects or something else, while the fifth 
went astray in the London mails, and was not recovered 
by me until midwinter of 1909. 

This demonstrates the uncertainty of hunting in 
Africa, and also a little of its bad luck. Yet there 
are bright spots of good luck, one of which I have 
not heard quite equalled. Mr. George L. Harrison, 
Jr., one of the foremost sportsmen of America, shot an 
Abyssinian buffalo while on one of his numerous trips 
to Africa. It required only one bullet, and it was not 
fired at again, for it was seen that the animal would 

237 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

soon die, and another shot might start it off on a long 
trip. After sending his gun-bearer back to camp for 
porters to cany in the buffalo, Harrison sat down on 
an ant-hill to watch the animal. While quietly sitting 
there, alone with his two rifles, scanning the bush sur- 
rounding the plain, he saw three lions emerge from the 
forest and stalk the dying buffalo, which was about 
seventy-five yards awaj^ from where he was sitting. The 
lions crept up through the grass, and when wdtliin 
striking distance one of them rushed and laiocked the 
buffalo over. Taking on three lions in the open is 
somewhat of a contract, but it was also a disappointment 
to see the buffalo destroyed, so Harrison quickly de- 
cided to go for them. With the first shot of his .450 he 
crumpled up one lion, while the other barrel told on 
the second, which crept off about ten yards from the 
buffalo and lay down, mortally wounded. The third 
one ran away. Picking up his .350 he fired at the run- 
ning animal. The first shot missed, but the second 
raked it from stern to head and bowled it over, giving 
him the remarkable record of one buffalo and three lions 
for five shots. As I have said, such bright spots while 
hunting may sometimes come, but not often, for the 
excellent shooting that accomplished this feat is not easy 
to parallel. I suppose too that not many people have 
had the opportunity of seeing a lion kill another animal 
as in this case. It must have been interesting and 
unique. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

FROM THE GUASO NYIRO TO RUMERUTI 

The narration of lion-hunting incidents has taken 
me a long waj^ from the valley where we were camped 
on the Guaso Njiro, and in which I secured a dikdik 
the afternoon we camped there and saw numbers of 
imj)alla. On my journey there I met an interesting 
looking old Wandorobo hunter, armed with his bow and 
arrows, and secured from him some fine specimens of 
poisoned arrows for each of which I gave him a box of 
matches. Near our camping ground, which was by a 
ford in the stream, a number of Masai brought down a 
great herd of cattle, sheep, and goats, and as they had a 
beautiful equipment of arms, I bought from one of 
them, for ten rupees, his entire outfit, consisting of a 
whole quiverful of iron-pointed arrows of most artistic 
make, liis bow, and the big loiife which they all carry. 
I considered this quite a bargain, for the arrows them- 
selves are wonderful in the formation of the barbs and 
the variety of the designs in which they are made. 

While I was out hunting in the afternoon, Mahom- 
med Mahomet, my personal Somali tent boy, who had 
an extremely ugly disposition, became impertinent to 
Williams, who promptly made a move towards him, 
whereupon Mahomet picked up a stone and threatened 
to throw it. Williams never ceased his approach for a 

239 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

minute, but Mahomet changed his mind and ran away. 
The askaris were ordered to catch him, and, accompanied 
by a number of porters, who were dehghted at the idea 
of engaging in a chase after a hated Somali, authorized 
by one of the "Sahibs," at once started in pursuit. After 
a long chase, they cornered him some miles away from 
camp, and dragged him in great glee back to camp, 
interested and speculating as to what the Sahib would 
do with the rebel. For the purpose of discipline, and 
because he thoroughly deserved it, Williams himself 
soundly flogged him, for it never would have done to 
have one of the negroes flog the Somali, and the per- 
sonal chastisement was of intense benefit. 

It is very unusual for a Somali to be flogged in 
East Africa, that being the punishment administered to 
the natives and the Somali being generally penalized by 
fines or imprisonment; but the act of threatening a 
white man could not be overlooked. The porters thor- 
oughly enjoyed the sight of a Somali being thoroughly 
flogged, while the other Somalis were thunderstruck. 
But they knew that the boy was in the wrong, and they 
therefore made no resistance to the severe yet very 
proper punishment he received. His disposition was 
diff'erent from that of the natives, for after the flogging 
he sulked and was surly, refusing to resume work, ex- 
cept under threat of further flogging. I notified him 
that he would be discharged when we reached Rumeruti, 
and that until that time he would have to do his work 
or be flogged daily. So he did his work, but in a half- 

240 





- f > 



liiii 



j^ 



FROM THE GUASO NYIRO TO RUMERITTI 

hearted manner. The result of this extraordinary pun- 
ishment brought a hush over the camp that night that 
had not existed at any previous time. 

We then journeyed three hours farther up the river, 
where we encountered our old friends, Captain and Mrs. 
Pears, en route to the junction which we had just left, 
in a search for oryx. We had originally intended to 
combine our hunting forces, but circumstances had 
changed our plans, largely owing to my lack of am- 
munition and the consequent detention which I suffered. 
Their hne of march had followed us through the Embo 
country as we had originally intended. They advised 
us that they had gone up the railroad about a hundred 
and fifty miles to Muhoroni, where they had secured 
a roan antelope, a species which I was very anxious to 
obtain, and which was to be had there, so we decided 
that we too should make the trip. 

In crossing the stream to the west bank at the head 
of the swamp, where we finally camped, Mrs. Madeira's 
mule slipped on some hidden rocks and sat down, de- 
positing her in the middle of the stream, in water about 
up to the armpits. Fortunately, her feet slid out of 
the stirrups as she went backwards off the mule, and so 
she was not injured by the latter's struggle to regain 
his feet. It all happened so quickly that no help could 
be given, though I was directly behind her. The picture 
caused great amusement as she sat there in the middle 
of the stream, with her open umbrella still held carefully 
over her head, unable to move hand or foot until help 

16 Ml 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

came to her. I jumped to her assistance as quickly as 
possible, while the mule scrambled ashore, splashing and 
contributing stiU further to the ducking which she had 
had. The rapidity of evaporation here is shown by the 
fact that her clothes dried in less than a half -hour, and 
fortunately there were no bad results. 

That night lions were heard in several directions. 
A thunder storm came up, the sky got black, and light- 
ning began to play. The " shouts " of the Uons became 
more and more eiFective, the ctage settings making the 
picture complete. It was weird and awe-inspiring. One 
fine-voiced beast seemed to be less than a couple of 
hundred yards away from the back of the tent, but in 
reality he was probably much farther off. We all went 
out in the rain and dark to hear him better, and it was 
quite thrilling to stand there with the lightning playing 
over the black sky and the sound of the lion getting more 
and more distinct. We wondered which way the beast's 
path would take him, whether to the hills or along the 
edge of the swamp in the direction of our tents. 
Whether he was looking for man-food or not was left 
to our imagination, but I noticed that the porters 
gathered closer and closer around the fires, and poked 
the latter up to greater brilHancy. Finally the sound 
drew away and at last sounded far and faint, finally 
ceasing. Others in the distance lulled us to sleep. 

We decided to stay at this camp for a short time, 
and the following day we hunted all the hills and hollows 
to the west of the swamp but saw no game. Williams 

242 



FROM THE GUASO NYIRO TO RUMERUTI 

went after birds, and secured a fine bag of various kinds 
— spur-wing geese, plover, ducks, and snipe. 

Lions having been heard again during the night, we 
resumed our search for them on the west side, but again 
without success, nothing turning up but a wart-hog, 
which I secured. WiUiams crossed to the north of the 
swamp and then went east, making a long journey as 
far as the Pesi River, and continuing south almost to 
Rumeruti. He secured a Grant's, and two Tommies, and 
saw innumerable oryx, wart-hogs, eland, and impalla. 
On his way back he attempted to cross the swamp, which 
was almost impenetrable, and in going through he saw 
among the thick grass a long black animal about the 
size of an otter, except that the tail was like that of a 
fox. He was uncertain as to what kind of beast it 
was, but when we got to Nairobi I was informed by Mr. 
Jackson that it was probably a large mongoose, of which 
there are several varieties in the country. They are 
rarely seen, however, and it was the only specimen we 
encountered. It disappeared so quickly that it could not 
be shot. 

We had been searching for the lam River, which 
was described to us as about two hours' march north of 
Rumeruti, and at which point lions had been seen quite 
recently. We had thought that our last camp was 
located at this point, but on our way into Rumeruti on 
March 4th we had discovered this river, but had had no 
time to stop in the very attractive looking country which 
bordered on it. A few days before we arrived one of 

243 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

the largest black-maned lions on record had been killed 
by a party of sportsmen, who stumbled on him eating a 
rhinoceros, which some passing safari had killed. 

The country which we had passed over in the last 
few weeks, and which had yielded us so Httle in the 
way of the game we were after, was hunted by Williams 
a year later, in company with Mr. Selous. Williams 
was the best rifle shot that I have ever seen, and he ex- 
celled also with the shotgun. With the rifle he seemed 
quite infallible, and his bullets almost invariably found 
their mark. But the dangers that beset even a good 
shot were nevertheless shown in his case when he was 
hurt by a lion recently. Without the slightest dif- 
ficulty, he first managed to bag a lioness. A few 
days later he saw an enormous lion stalking an 
eland. He was alone, except for his gun-bearer, but 
decided that the black-maned lion was to be his and 
cautiously proceeded after him through the long grass. 

He had not gone very far when he discovered that 
the lion was stalking him, and they suddenly met in an 
opening in the grass, face to face and about fifteen yards 
apart, each gazing into the other's eyes and lying flat on 
the ground. With the lion in this position, Williams 
felt he could not get a fatal shot without damaging the 
head, and therefore, covering the lion, he waited for the 
first movement, in the hope that the lion's head would 
rise. The instant it did he fired, and the lion rolled over 
motionless, a bullet having drilled him from end to end, 
straight through the heart. He was one of the largest 

244 



FROM THE GUASO NYIRO TO RUMERUTI 

lions, if not the largest, on record, measuring, as I 
understand, in the neighborhood of ten and a half feet 
from tip of nose to tip of tail, and being a magnificent 
specimen, in the finest of condition. Success came thus 
easy only a year after we had worked so hard beating 
this country for this particular kind of game. 

The uncertainties of African hunting are still further 
instanced in the deplorable accident wliich happened to 
Mr. Williams this year (June 8, 1909). He was hunt- 
ing in the Sotik District with Mr. Selous and Mr. Mc- 
Millan, when one day not far from camp, he saw a Hon 
passing along the edge of the bushes some three hundred 
yards off. The account published in the newspapers at 
the time here follows, but does not half begin to tell the 
suffering and agony of that long week's march to the 
railroad and hospital. At the end it was only a question 
of a few hours whether blood-poisoning would finish his 
story, and certainly one day's further delay would have 
rendered it impossible to save his leg. 

Nairobi, July 1. — Mr Selous and I had joined Mr. Mc- 
Millan, but on June 8 I was out alone, having only my two gun- 
bearers with me, when I saw a lion on the right, about three 
hundred yards away. He was prowling along, and apparently 
did not notice me, but I could see by the swish of his tail that he 
was an angry beast. I put up my hand as a signal for my 
head gun-bearer to come up with a spare rifle, and together we 
worked closer and closer to the lion. The beast seemed to have 
no intention of stopping, so I struck one hand on the back of 
the other. The lion stopped and faced me, probably revolving 
the question of attack, whilst I, for my part, cogitated as to 
whether I should shoot or endeavor to get a bit closer. The 

245 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

lion seemed to decide upon retreat, for he turned suddenly and 
trotted away. I fired both barrels of my .450 at him, one shot 
reaching him in the flank. It was only a slight flesh wound, but 
it paralyzed him for the moment, and he sat down on his 
haunches like a dog. After a few minutes he got up and went 
into a bit of open bush. 

Not knowing what state the brute might be in, I made for 
a big open patch on my left front, hoping to get a better sight 
of him. The lion, however, had been watching me from his 
retreat, and at two hundred yards' distance he sprang out of 
the bush and came straight for me at a terrifying pace. I 
waited until he was within sixty yards, and then let him have 
both barrels. One shot missed him but the other lodged in the 
fleshy part of his shoulder. The only effect was to infuriate 
him more than ever, and I now thought myself a dead man, 
for there was no time to reload, and the gun-bearer was not 
actually In reach with the other rifle. I turned and made for a 
bush at my right rear, hoping the beast would rush past me and 
give me time to reload, but it was hopeless, and, turning sharply 
round, I stood my ground. 

It was a terrifying sight — the brute's jaws already open 
to seize me by my left shoulder and breast — but with the courage 
born of despair I raised my rifle in both hands and struck him 
across the side of the head. Almost simultaneously he ducked 
and seized me by the right leg, shaking me from side to side as 
though I had been a rat. There is no need to describe what 
I felt at this moment. Suffice it to say that my gun-bearer — 
the pluckiest creature, black or white, that I have ever read of — 
came up wliilst the lion was actually mauling me and asked me 
how to turn the safety catch. I had sufficient presence of mind 
to be able to explain in a second, and the gun-bearer fired. The 
lion left me and rushed into a bush five yards away, giving 
me time to put two cartridges in my rifle whilst still on the 
ground. 

Raising myself to fire, I saw that the lion was in the act 
of springing. I fired off both barrels from my hip at his head, 
the " boy " firing at the same time, and the brute rolled over 

246 



FROM THE GUASO NYIRO TO RUMERUTI 

dead. I fell back again, and for a few minutes half-swooned, 
for I had lost a lot of blood; but as soon as the second gun- 
bearer had come up (no gun with him), I sent him off to find 
camp and bring back some men to carry me in. With some 
dressing which I had in my cartridge bag, I tried to staunch 
the bleeding, but could do very little in this way. The muscles 
were torn open, an artery had burst, and the wounds were every- 
where so deep. For an hour I lay there, and then half the camp 
turned up and I was carried in on a bed. I shall never forget 
the agony of that journey. On reaching camp Mr. Selous and 
Mr. McMillan dressed the wounds as well as they could, but 
that night my temperature was over 105. 

On this afternoon of the next day — the 9th — I left with 
a man — Judd — in charge of me, and after three days' travel by 
hand porterage I got to Lindrane on the railroad, and arrived 
at Nairobi on the 14th. My leg seemed to be bursting all the 
time, and the blood was draining away. On being brought into 
the hospital, however, I experienced all the ease and comfort 
which a first-class doctor and skilful nursing were able to 
afford. 

I am delighted to say that at last reports Mr. 
Williams was on the highroad to recovery and dis- 
charged from the hospital as out of danger. The Somali 
gun-bearer alluded to I believe was Ali Shirwa, who 
accompanied us, and was the one injured by a buffalo 
near the Tana River. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE PLAINS OF LAIKIPIA 

The Commissioner at Rumeruti advised us to take 
the Nakuru route to the railroad, as on a recent tour 
of inspection he had seen a herd of elephants two days' 
march from the fort, and also some hons, at what was 
known as Ten-Mile Camp on this road. 

We found our lion cub had been well cared for, and 
was in fine condition, growing rapidly. He was most 
friendly, following Ali Mirra like a dog, and he soon 
learned to do the same with all of us. We had a com- 
fortable cage made for him, and anticipated no further 
difficulty in his bringing up. 

When we arrived here many of our men were sick, 
and we had to discharge them. It gave us a lot of 
trouble to settle accounts with them, paying their wages, 
allowing them travelling money to reach Nairobi, and 
arranging for their care and maintenance until they 
could be forwarded under proper escort. We secured 
others in their places, but they were of inferior ability. 

Ali Mirra here rejoined us, and while still far from 
strong, he thought that he could continue his work until 
the end of the hunt. 

Rumeruti has an excellent climate, and is quite cool, 
the official elevation being given as 6200 feet. We had 
a three hours' march thence to the Ten-]\Iile Camp, 

248 



THE PLAINS OF LAIKIPIA 

along the Nakuru Road, which still followed the Guaso 
Narok through rolling and broken country. The road 
ascended the hills quite steeply to a high plateau which 
lies in this section of the country and forms part of the 
escarpment that borders the Great Rift Valley. 

Having been warned by Mr. ColHer that the lions 
at Ten-Mile Camp are supposed to be man-eaters, at 
least some of them, I cautioned our men about keeping 
good fires at night, and not sleeping outside of their 
tents. 

In the afternoon I went back of the camp to some 
thick thorn country, but saw nothing save steinbuck and 
zebra, which were plentiful. I shot one of the latter 
for bait, dropping him at a spot which I could approach 
and stalk from any direction. 

Williams crossed the river to the east bank, and on 
a wide detour through heavy forest came upon fresh 
elephant tracks which could not at the most have been 
more than twenty- four hours old, but saw no other game 
except small antelope, such as steinbuck and duiker. 

We heard lions all night long, and one in the direction 
in which I had left my zebra bait. In the morning 
I rose at four, before it was dayhght, and with hopes 
high proceeded in the direction of the bait. As I got 
near and the light became so that I could see, it was 
evident that something was at work on the zebra, 
though I could not tell at first what it was. On going 
closer and daylight increasing, it disclosed itself to be 
nothing but a hyena. It seemed very busy and even 

249 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

crawled entirely within the animal's stomach, when 
upon its reappearing I promptly shot it. It was quite 
different from the one which I had bagged on the 
Guaso Nyiro, for this was typically dirty, disgusting, 
and loathsome, as horrid a beast as one could well 
imagine. I had great trouble getting the head skinned, 
for the men do not like to touch them, saying, " He 
eat my father and my mother." And so they probably 
do. 

We had a slight shower of rain as we broke camp a 
little after six, and then marched for four hours over 
beautiful rolling country, the path constantly rising 
until we reached a spot which had been indicated to us 
for camp, close to the Thomson's Falls of the Guaso 
Narok. A couple of miles of our path had led us 
through an elephant forest, the first real " jungle " that 
we had seen, and it gave us an idea of its density and 
impenetrability. The trees all met overhead, creepers 
and vines covered and festooned them in every direction, 
and the ground of the forest was covered by an under- 
growth of brush, thorns, and creepers through which 
it was impossible to make any headway or even to see 
through. The undergrowth was as tough and tangled 
as if barbed wire had been woven through it, and even 
the smallest of the creepers were well nigh impossible 
to break. To be caught in such a forest with an elephant 
charging would seem to me to render escape impossible. 
The meeting of the trees overhead made a dim light 
like twilight, and the sun was visible only at some spot 

250 



THE PLAINS OF LAIKIPIA 

where a tree had fallen. Here were the paths of ele- 
phants, great, wide trails, with everj^thing smashed as 
though a locomotive had gone through. Limbs were 
torn off and large trees broken down, showing the 
tremendous power that these great beasts possess. Some 
of the branches which had been torn off were as thick 
as my body, and these had been tossed around like twigs. 
It was interesting and impressive. 

Just as we came out of the jungle, near the river, 
we saw a big defassa waterbuck, but did not shoot for 
fear of alarming any elephants wliich might be nearby. 
It was plain that they came to the place to drink, for 
they had frequently been seen there lately, so it was 
not wise to disturb them by making too much noise. 

After lunch I took a position overlooking the falls 
and the pool above them, in the hope of locating the 
herd when they came down in the evening to drink. But 
this was not their day, for nothing appeared except 
some very beautiful parrakeets. A log had been caught 
in the rocks just below the falls, and projected out into 
the spray of the latter, and in the rainbow created by 
this played a large flock of these birds, making a 
most interesting sight. This continued for quite a 
while, when I saw them suddenly disappear into the 
thick trees. Looking up in the air for the cause, I 
found that a huge hawk was hovering above. 

The falls were very beautiful, emptying into a 
canyon probably one hundred and fifty feet deep, with 
perpendicular sides of rock, which were somewhat cov- 

251 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

ered with brush and jungle. Through glasses, it was 
possible to see paths in the latter, made, apparently, by 
leopards or other cats, which must have been plentiful 
in that neighborhood. From the river bank up the liigh 
hills which rose on top of one another, the elephant 
forest extended as far as the eye could reach. We had 
merely crossed a narrow portion of it in our path, and 
there must have been ample territory within which a 
herd of these huge pachyderms could hide themselves 
and live in undisturbed security. 

On the plains lying to the west of the falls, and 
extending as far as the eye could see, innumerable Jack- 
son's hartebeest were grazing. Williams went after 
some of these, far away from the falls, so that his shot 
could not be heard, and secured one of the best of this 
variety that we got. 

During the afternoon a shower came up, just as 
on the preceding day, and drenched us to the skin. It 
was quite cool here, the thermometer not exceeding 79° 
in the shade, and at night it became very cold. 

In the morning Williams went up to the river beyond 
the falls, and crossed to the edge of the forest, in which 
he could hear the elephants trumpeting; but although 
he made an attempt to enter the brush, it was so dense 
that he could not make any headway. He found no 
path of the elephants over which he could travel, so as 
to get near them, so, following up the stream still 
farther, he proceeded to shoot birds, which were here 
in myriads. He brought a fine bag back to camp, and 
also two fine Jackson's. 

252 



THE PLAINS OF LAIKIPIA 

I resorted to the plains after Jackson's hartebeest, 
but did not get one that I wanted. I secured a stein- 
buck far out on the plains among the hartebeest. As 
described previously, he was somewhat diiFerent from 
those which we had hitherto seen. I saved both the 
head and the body skin, but, unfortunately, the latter 
was stolen during the night, and I was unable to pre- 
serve anything but the head. I saw a number of water- 
buck, but none with an exceptional head. Again it 
rained in the afternoon. 

The following morning, March 8th, we started from 
camp at 6 o'clock, and proceeded over the still ascend- 
ing plateau to the next water hole. We encountered no 
streams after leaving camp, and had a long, hard march 
in our search for the particular pool, which all reports 
had indicated would be very low at this time, and the 
water, if any, not very good. We missed the first water 
hole, and had to continue on to the next, which was 
a total of five hours' march from the falls. Our camp 
had to be pitched upon the bare plains, over which 
the wind blew a gale. Everything was filled with dust 
and grit until the afternoon rain came, when the wind 
increased and threatened to blow down the tent, making 
our stay here quite an uncomfortable one. 

We here secured a beautiful specimen of the crested 
crane, and on the march two Jackson's. With the ex- 
ception of these and zebra, no other game was 
encountered. 

All day long we had been marcliing over country 

253 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

devoid of trees and with very short grass, reminding 
one of the conditions on the Athi Plains. The excep- 
tion to this was the broken and roUing nature of the 
country which was more like the prairies of our Western 
states in its wave-like formation. Occasionally we 
would come across dry nullas, which in the rainy season 
probably are rivers of considerable size, but at this time 
were nothing but great gullies without a drop of water 
or any vegetation to relieve them. Such few trees as 
were scattered at long intervals looked lonely and out 
of place. The altitude was so high that it was quite 
cool and a good breeze was blowing all the time. 

We had considerable discussion that evening as to 
where the next water was to be found, all accounts in- 
dicating that there might be great trouble in locating 
a supply, as the drought was getting worse every day. 
The daily showers were instantly absorbed by the dry 
earth. We prepared for an early start, as we realized 
that it would be a long march, as indeed it was. 

We left camp at daylight the next morning, and 
about eleven o'clock reached a point where water should 
have been found. But the stream was dry, and we had 
to proceed to the next water, which was expected in the 
valley below. We descended from the top of the escarp- 
ment, a total of from fifteen hundred to two thousand 
feet, before we reached the next stream bed, which had 
been reported as having contained water recently. It 
also was dry, so we proceeded on to Mr. James's farm, 
which with our gun-bearers and personal boys we 

254 



THE PLAINS OF LAIKIPIA 

reached about half past one — far ahead of the poor 
porters, who commenced to reach camp about 2.30. 
Only the strongest were able to make the journey in 
such time, and the balance kept straggling in until 
five o'clock in the afternoon, thoroughly exhausted. 

It was the longest march we had had. Towards 
evening Baringo, our head porter, reported that two 
totos, or boys who carry the equipment of the porters, 
had not come in, so he went back over the road for them, 
and it was not until nine o'clock at night when he finally 
brought them in. We had covered twenty-two miles 
from the Aberdare Mountains and had got down the 
escarpment, so every one was exhausted. Our camp 
was now made but twelve miles from Nakuru. Mr. 
James offered us all manner of hospitality and atten- 
tion. He told me that within a few hundred yards of 
his farm-house was a hill on which I should be able 
to obtain a reedbuck, which I was most anxious to 
secure. I flushed two, but was unable to get a shot, 
although I could catch a glimpse of some of them 
through the bushes as they played hide and seek around 
the hill. Before we had left the escarpment Williams 
had secured two Jackson's, his specimens of this variety 
being wonderfully fine all through. 

The level which we had now reached was at least 
two thousand feet below the high plateau over which 
we had been travelling, and the heat commenced to be 
felt again, as it had in the lower levels when we were 
in the Embo Country. We started for Nakuru, twelve 

S5S 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

miles away, very early in the morning" of March 10th, 
and reached there after a four hours' march across 
plains covered with Jackson's and Neumann's harte- 
teest. There were a number of ostrich farms located 
in this district, and we saw many of these birds in the 
big fenced-in fields. They were apparently thriving. 

At Nakuru we found the best hotel that we had seen 
in Africa. It was constructed of stone, was well 
finished throughout, and had a most excellent cuisine, 
all entirely due to the energ}'^ and public spirit of Lord 
Delamere, who has a large ranch and a timber reserve 
nearby. 

That afternoon we shipped to Nairobi by train all 
of our safari except the personal servants and gun- 
bearers, whom we intended to take with us to Muhoroni, 
one hundred miles farther up the railroad, and about 
thirty miles from Victoria Nyanza. At the hotel I 
secured some very fine native shields and spears and a 
double-bladed battle axe, evidently of Persian or 
Arabian workmanship, that in some way had been 
brought down to this, almost the central, part of Africa, 
perhaps drifting down through the Arabs from the time 
of the Crusades. It appeared out of keeping with the 
natives, for it was quite handsome and showed traces of 
gold and silver inlaid work. This would not be ex- 
ceptional, for I was told by officers who had been in the 
Egyptian campaign against the Mahdi that when the 
battle of Omdurman was over they found numerous 
shirts of chain mail, helmets, swords, battle-axes, and 

356 




ZEBRA 

(Equus burchelli chaprnani) 




SPOTTED HYENA 

( Hya'na crocula) 



THE PLAINS OF LAIKIPIA 

whole suits of armor that were undoubtedly relics of the 
days of the Crusades. 

We were disappointed to find that there would be 
no train to take us west to Muhoroni for three days, the 
information which we had received at Rumeruti having 
been incorrect in regard to this. 

Our time before sailing was now becoming so short 
that we were greatly disappointed at the thought of 
having to wait at this point. There was so much still 
to be done with various specimens that we had not 
secured that time was valuable. 

During the evening one of the residents called and 
advised me that two lions had been seen frequently on 
the escarpment some six or eight miles back from Na- 
kuru, but in the main direction from which we had come. 
He very kindly put himself at my disposal, and secured 
a couple of mules, and the following morning, with a 
companion, started me and my gun-bearer, Baccari, 
on a desperately hot trip across the plains. 

We arrived at a ranch near the foot of the escarp- 
ment, where we sought further information, and, to our 
disappointment, found that the owner had already 
arranged with a friend of his to hunt these lions that 
afternoon, and as they were on private property, we 
had to abandon our intention and return to the hotel. 
It would appear that lions found roaming at large are 
sometimes looked upon as preempted property, for the 
gentleman in question, who was most civil, explained 
that his plans had already been arranged, and he evi- 

17 257 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

dently had these hons marked down for his own. I was 
sorry to learn later that he had failed to get them. 

At this point there is an extinct volcanic crater of 
enormous size, and around this we hunted our way back. 
The only shot I had was at a Chanler's reedbuck, about 
two hundred and fifty yards away. I missed, though 
I greatly desired this specimen and worked hard for it, 
realizing that it was my last opportunity. 



CHAPTER XXV 

CONCERNING BIRDS AND INSECTS 

In reply to inquiries, the raikoad officials advised 
us that there might be a " goods train " going west 
Thursday night, and if so they would put on a pas- 
senger car, so we made our preparations accordingly. 
That morning I went down to the point where the river 
and the lake met, and saw a number of waterbuck, but 
none that I wished to shoot. While roaming around, 
looking for almost anything that would turn up, I 
caught sight of a leopard, but he saw me at the same 
time and disappeared into some bush. I bagged here 
the finest wart-hog that I secured during the trip, it 
having extremely fine tusks. 

This was really the first day that I had had an 
opportunity to see water birds. Lake Nakuru was 
covered with enormous flocks of pink and white flamin- 
goes, pelicans, and other species of aquatic birds. The 
handsomest were the flamingoes, which drew up in sohd 
companies, shoulder to shoulder, giving a formation like 
a regiment of soldiers. The pink flamingoes with their 
beautiful plumage formed one streak of color, and the 
white flamingoes all banded together formed a similar 
line of snowy hue. At the slightest disturbance they 
all rose from the w ater with a most beautiful efl'ect, the 
delicate pink and brilliant red of the colored flamingoes 

259 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

making a rosy cloud, and contrasting beautifully with 
the cloud of white flamingoes and the blue sky. I 
longed to secure a pink one, but could not get near 
enough to use a shotgun, so when they were in the air 
I fired a rifle ball, unfortunately dropping more than 
I wanted. An evidence of the density of the flock is 
shown by the fact that flve dropped to this one bullet, 
but they were all so badly mutilated that I was able to 
save only parts of each. They stand about three and a 
half feet high, with contrasting colors from snow white 
to various shades of pink and the most briUiant scarlet, 
while the ends of the wing have dark, blackish brown 
tips. The bill has the usual curious shape with which 
we are famihar, looking as if it had been broken in half 
in the middle. How they ever manage to manipulate 
this misshapen formation, I do not understand. 

The bird life in Africa, by the way, was most 
interesting, but, imfortunately, I am not enough 
of a naturalist to distinguish the innumerable varie- 
ties that we saw. The largest was the giant bus- 
tard, which is a huge bird, weighing, I should 
judge, some thirty pounds. There are a number of 
smaller varieties of this species, of which we shot one 
or two. We saw a number of the giants out on the 
plains, but almost always at a time when we did not 
wish to shoot, and as they generally kept at a long 
distance it was difficult to get one. Ibises and fla- 
mingoes of various kinds were found near the lakes. 
The marabou stork was everywhere, and a picturesque, 

260 



CONCERNING BIRDS AND INSECTS 

solemn, and dignified looking bird it is. Its beak is 
eight or ten inches long, and its coloring is a beautiful 
gray and white. At the root of the tail is a clump of 
some twelve or fourteen feathers of a fine, delicate, 
spray-like formation, which are much sought after for 
aigrettes and hair ornamentation. 

The crested crane is probably the most beautiful 
of the larger birds there. It stands about three feet 
high, and has a red gland underneath the throat, a 
blue head, and a biilliant yellow crest of coarse, 
hair-like feathers. The neck is gray, the body white, 
and the wings a dark red-brown. There are many 
varieties and sizes of francolins and guinea fowls. We 
saw innumerable hawks, eagles, and buzzards of many 
species, shapes, and sizes — too many to be classified 
except by a naturalist. The beautiful weaver birds, 
which build their nest in the shape of a huge mock- 
orange, having the entrance at the bottom, we saw in 
thousands, sometimes a tree having as many as forty 
or fifty of these nests suspended from the slender boughs 
to which these wonderful birds attached them. The 
common bird which would take the place of our sparrow 
is something like a small starling — of a brilliant indigo 
blue. Then there were parrakeets, parrots, doves, and, 
in fact, scores of different species, the names of which 
I did not know or in any way recognize. There were 
geese, both spur-winged and Egyptian ; ducks of several 
varieties, some looking exactly like our own American 
wild ducks, such as the mallard and the various teal 

261 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

that we have; grouse, quail, plover of many species, 
some of them with red legs and spurs on the wing, and 
others without spurs. All that we tried were delicious 
eating. Mr. Abel Chapman's book " On Safari " gives 
a naturalist's description of the birds in this same coun- 
try, and for a list of those which we met I would refer 
to his most interesting volume. 

Two of the birds that we encountered are great 
" tell-tales." One of them is the honey bird, which, it is 
declared, leads almost invariably to bee-hives. When 
this bird sees a man it flies a little in advance, fluttering 
and uttering its calls, and when followed proceeds with 
these short flights until it leads to the tree in which the 
honey is located. The natives have a superstition that 
unless the bird is fairly treated and gets its share of the 
honey, it becomes angry and will lead the bee-hunter 
up to some dangerous beast. Of course this is nonsense, 
but I am assured that it will lead to honey. The other 
tell-tale, and a most objectionable one, is the rhino 
bird. His living is apparently secured from the insects 
which infest his huge friend and companion. He is 
usually seen sitting on top of the rhino's shoulders or 
hopping all over him, and when alarmed utters a series 
of shrill calls, which indicate to both the rhino and the 
hunter that there is danger around. If one of these 
birds is on a rhino, or nearby, it is difficult to get near 
without exciting it, and the rhino at the same time 
takes warning, as well as alarm, and immediately en- 
deavors to locate the approaching hunter. These two 

262 



CONCERNING BIRDS AND INSECTS 

birds are found almost everywhere and are quite 
numerous. 

We saw comparatively few snakes. The first was a 
pufF adder which lay in the middle of the path, and 
which raised its huge head with an angry hiss that was 
immediately stopped by a gun-shot which blew oiF the 
creature's head. It was about three feet long and quite 
thick, and of a deadly poisonous varietJ^ There are, 
of course, huge pythons, which we did not see alive, 
but I heard of them as long as from sixteen to eighteen 
feet. In fact, I saw some dried skins that length. We 
encountered a few smaller snakes which, I presume, 
were mambas, about two or three feet long, and these 
our Somalis said were extremely poisonous. They 
would usually scuttle away through the grass whenever 
seen, but on one occasion (the day I shot a giraffe) I 
was lying fast asleep under the shade of a tree, using my 
saddle blanket and saddle as a bed. Upon rising and 
picking up the blanket, I was horrified to find that one 
of these deadly snakes had crawled underneath it. I 
jumped back, and it escaped before I could kill it. 

On another occasion, while stalking through some 
quite long grass, I was annoyed by a commotion on the 
part of my gun-bearers back of me, and, turning, to see 
what was the matter, found them engaged in kilhng 
a snake, which, they said, had been chasing me and was 
just prepared to strike at my leg when Ali Mirra 
brought the butt of a gun down on it. It was quite a 
harmless-looking affair, about two feet long, but Ali 

263 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

said that if it had bitten me I should have been dead in 
thi'ee minutes. I don't know whether this is true or not. 
I should say we did not encounter more than a dozen 
or two all through our trip. The natives are very much 
afraid of them, and ^\ath good cause, for with their bare 
feet they naturally made no noise when walking, and a 
snake would not be disturbed bj^ their approach. A 
European ^^ith boots undoubtedly makes a sound or 
vibration on the hard ground which would be com- 
municated to an animal Ijdng on the surface, and would 
no doubt disturb him, therefore, a snake is more rarely 
seen by the booted hunter than by the poor native, whose 
silent approach gives the snake no warning, and who in 
consequence is likely to be bitten before he is aware of 
the reptile's presence. 

Insect life was most plentiful, variegated and won- 
derful. Our first trouble was with ticks. They var}'^ in 
size from the tiniest imaginable to great big fellows as 
large as a ^Marrowfat pea. The large ones are usually 
found in the arm-pits of game, particularly rhinoceros, 
zebras, and other large animals, and must cause intense 
suffering. They were not at all bothersome to us 
after we left the Athi Plain. 

I think I was more impressed by one curious in- 
sect that inhabits the tall brown grass than anything 
else. It was built like a blade of thick grass, or straw, 
and its legs, feelers, and every part of its anatomy were 
the color of a stalk of grass. So far has nature carried 
this imitation that at a distance of a very few feet it was 

264 



CONCERNING BIRDS AND INSECTS 

almost impossible to detect it from the broken and bent 
blades of grass which formed its covering. 

Flies swarm in the middle of the day, and were a 
pest on our marches, when the sun warmed them up 
into activity. We had to carry switches or fly brushes 
of zebra tails to keep them oif our faces, for they 
travelled along with us and were insufferable. Mos- 
quitoes we encountered mostly in the Embo district, 
but also sometimes at night when our hunting or camp- 
ing took us close to swamps or rivers. We therefore 
always pitched our tents a couple of hundred yards 
away from the water, and so had little difficulty with 
them throughout the majority of our trip. 

We were fortunate to escape one little pest called 
the jigger — a minute insect like the flea — that gets 
underneath the toe-nail, lays its eggs, and sets up an 
irritating sore. The natives are very expert in extract- 
ing these with the aid of a sharp stick, and can do it 
better than any one else. These pests are mostly found 
around caravan stopping-places, or where there is a 
fort, and it is dangerous to place the bare foot on the 
ground in such localities. These jiggers, I understand, 
were brought from South America to the western coast, 
and travelled clear across the Continent to the Indian 
Ocean. But, as I say, we never encountered them per- 
sonally or heard of them among our safari. 

Ant-hills extend all over the country, although we 
saw very few of the insects that construct them. Evi- 
dently the work is all underground, and the ant works 

265 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

under cover. He makes a hollow tube up and down 
which he travels, protected from attack of other insects 
or birds, and always building his tube ahead of him. 
In this way enormous pyramids are constiTicted, some 
of them ten to fifteen feet high and twenty to thirty 
feet in diameter at the base. They consist of a fine 
clay which, with some moisture which the ants exude, 
is mixed into a substance like weak cement. The toil 
and exertion that these insects undergo cannot be fully 
realized until one sees the great areas covered with these 
pyramids, on which large animals are sometimes seen 
standing. The tops of these ant-hills are great points 
of vantage for hartebeest to post themselves on, as from 
them they can see all over the surrounding country. 
Little if any dead wood is found in the woods of 
Africa, for ants eat it all, as indeed they sometimes 
do standing trees. When they attack the latter their 
little channels or tubes run up the tree, and from these 
they apparently burrow inside the wood at intervals 
imtil the latter is entirely consumed and nothing re- 
mains but the shell of thin tunnels, which often remains 
long after the entire tree has been eaten up. 

The great enemy of the ants is the aard-vark, which 
is rarely seen. This hideous, misshapen-looking animal 
bores far into the ant-hills and with its long tongue 
feeds upon the ants, getting at the main nest and 
centre from which all the work radiates. Tliis, I under- 
stand, contains the queen, an enormous insect whose 
sole mission in life is the reproduction of myriads of in- 

266 



CONCERNING BIRDS AND INSECTS 

dividuals, which, infinitely smaller than she is, are the 
organized workmen. There is one variety of ant that it 
is well to be wary of, and when a thin line of them is 
seen marching across one's path, it is desirable to avoid 
stepping on them or in any way interfering with them. 
If disturbed, they immediately attack the disturber and 
swarm all over him, biting with their nippers and mak- 
ing the most painful wounds. Their processions look 
like thin black ribbons, an inch or two wide and of end- 
less length, and are often encountered marching along 
like an army, and a very unpleasant army they are to 
interfere with. 

Bees were plentiful, and the numerous honey-pots 
that we saw throughout the country gave a valuable 
contribution to the food supply of the natives. They 
are handled by the latter with the greatest courage and 
impunity. On one occasion, while out hunting, I de- 
tected smoke, and curiosity and the sense of the danger 
of a fire in the country drew me at once towards it. I 
found that our Masai guide had found honey in a 
dead tree about twenty feet high. A small fire of 
green wood had been built at the bottom of the tree, 
and then this stark naked individual had shinned up 
the tree some ten feet or so. Around the foot were 
gathered a half-dozen of my porters (whose business it 
should have been to follow me), and circling around 
their heads and around the naked Masai on the tree 
were thousands of angry bees. From time to time the 
Masai would thrust his hand into a hole in the tree and 

267 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

bring out a comb of honey and an additional swarm 
of insect inhabitants, but apparently none of them 
stung him. The swarm approached me, but as I felt 
that I was not concerned in this burglary and desired to 
pay no penalty for it, I beat a hasty retreat, and then 
watched the proceedings through my glasses. For five 
minutes or more this robbery continued, and the Masai 
would slowly wave one arm around his head, dislodg- 
ing the bees which were swarming there, as well as all 
over liis naked body. The whole bunch of these men 
escaped without a sting, and why I could never under- 
stand. They ate as much of the honey as they could 
on the spot, and took the rest of it back to camp, 
where there was a wild scramble to secure some of their 
loot by all the rest of the safari. 

In the Tana region we were in the district of the 
tsetse fly, which is one of the pests of the country, as 
its bite to domestic animals is almost invariably fatal. 
It is generally found in the thick trees bordering on a 
stream or a hollow, and rarely ventures far from these. 
It is not so very much larger than the ordinary fly, but 
its wings are crossed over its back like the blades of 
scissors, and I think it is of a brownish color. 

The species we encountered is different from that 
which causes sleeping sickness and which is found around 
the shores of Victoria Nyanza. While that tsetse fly ap- 
parently is not necessarily fatal to man, the fly which 
creates the sleeping sickness is a curse that the govern- 
ment is making every effort to stamp out. Sleeping- 

268 



CONCERNING BIRDS AND INSECTS 

sickness commissions, medical experimental stations, and 
hospitals for the cure of the sufferers are all working 
earnestly to combat this plague which has been a source 
of so much misery in Africa. The courage with which 
these scientific and medical men are experimenting and 
exploring arouses admiration, for the poison is in- 
sidious, and one never knows when one is bitten, for the 
results of the infection may not be noticed for months. 
The sleeping sickness is now mostly confined to Uganda 
and there close to the lake, but isolated cases have 
been discovered at various spots in East and Central 
Africa, and the greatest care will be necessary to pre- 
vent the spread of the scourge. The tsetse fly that bites 
an infected person may also be able to convey the 
poison. The native, being naked, of course has more 
surface exposed to the danger of the flies than the 
European, besides which the native is not careful about 
flies anyhow. They do not seem to be annoyed by them 
as is the European, with the result that the native is of- 
ten the victim of their bites. Up to the present time no 
certain cure has apparently been found for the disease, 
and the menace and horror of its spread is a matter of 
the gravest importance. Some scientists claim that the 
poison has its origin in crocodiles, and that the flies 
carried it from them. It was suggested that all the 
crocodiles should be exterminated — a pretty large con- 
tract, but there is no undertaking too stupendous to 
ignore if the cause of this disease can be eliminated. 
Whether the rinderpest was occasioned by a fly of 

269 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

peculiar character and virulence, I do not know, but 
some ten or twelve j^eai-s ago this scourge swept all 
through the central part of Africa, being particularly 
fatal to the buffalo and the eland, which were almost 
wiped off the earth. But recovery by nature, aided 
by man's protection, has been most satisfactory, and 
both of these species that were threatened with ex- 
termination have now recovered and bid fair to have 
secured a permanency. The buffalo in Uganda are 
to-day so numerous, and their attacks on natives have 
caused so many fatalities, that the Government no 
longer imposes restrictions about shooting them. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

ROAN ANTELOPE AND LEOPARD 

The lion cub here gave us quite a lot of trouble. 
While out walking with Mrs. JNIadeira, whom he fol- 
lowed like a dog, he saw some chickens beneath the floor 
of one of the buildings, which were constructed on piles, 
leaving about a foot or a foot and a half between the 
flooring and the ground. The cub promptly dashed 
underneath and refused to be coaxed out. All efforts 
to poke liim out with a pole were unavailing, and finally 
his temper got roused and he was as mad as a hornet. 
Small boys were liired to go in and get him, but it was 
an hour or two before a youngster was able to push him 
out with a long stick. The cub as cross as he could be, 
snapped and growled at everybody, and had to be 
handled with a great deal of care, for by this time his 
teeth and claws were as sharp as needles, and he did 
not hesitate to use both whenever his very irascible 
temper got the better of liim. We had begun to fear 
that we should have to give up our trip until hunger 
should drive him from his hiding place. We had grown 
very fond of him, and had taken great pains with Iiim, 
the results of wliich latter were sho^vn in the rapid 
growth and development. By this time he stood about 
fourteen inches high, and was as powerful and strong 
as a dog of a very much larger size. 

271 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

The goods train finally came along, and we left for 
Muhoroni, which lay to the westward, towards Victoria 
Nyanza. The Labor Commissioner had his private car 
attached to the train, and we dined with him and played 
bridge during the evening. The country over which we 
travelled that night was most broken, hilly, and 
picturesque. We crossed over the high lands, down into 
the Rift Valley, and finally reached the Nandi foot 
hills, where the station was located, on Friday, March 
13th, at 4.30 a.m. We were thoroughly tired out, for 
we had had to get up about three o'clock in the morning 
to be ready for our arrival, and the train was an hour 
and a half late. The Dak Bungalow station restaurant 
is run by the railroad at this point, and there are two 
or three rooms for belated travelers. The Indian 
" baboo " who has charge of the house gave us every 
attention, and shortly after we got there breakfast was 
ready and we were settled with very comfortable 
accommodations. 

About eleven o'clock I started up the railroad, which 
I followed for a couple of miles and then struck north 
through the broken country, which formation of foot- 
hills exists between here and Kibigori. 

Innumerable quantities of Jackson's hartebeest were 
in all directions, and some few topi, but I saw no signs 
of roan antelope, and could not get near the topi. I 
circled far around the country, and on my way back to 
Muhoroni, after a seventeen-mile walk I was thoroughly 
exhausted. The heat here was terrific, as we had de- 
scended to a low elevation. 

272 



ROAN ANTELOPE AND LEOPARD 

The country was covered with grass as high as the 
shoulder, with plenty of water and good trees, almost 
entirely mimosa or thorn. There appeared to be several 
varieties of this, or else it may be that the bark is 
affected by the different seasons. Whole sections cov- 
ered with these trees were found where the bark was 
a deep, almost brick red, at others the bark was 
a brilliant pea green, and at still others the trees had 
a gray bark. The flowers, which are profuse on these 
trees, are about the size of clover, and not unhke it in 
appearance. Some of the trees bear yellow and some 
white flowers, and the perfume thrown off by them 
is delightful. 

Coming back along the railroad track, after my 
long walk, I was passed by a train from the lake, and, 
looking up as it went by, I saw an intimate friend who 
had been one of our fellow-travellers on the Burgo- 
meister. He happened to be looking out of the window 
at the time, so we were able to recognize each other. 
Muhoroni being one of the stations where meals are 
provided for travellers, I found him at the Dak Bunga- 
low when I arrived, and we had a delightful time, talk- 
ing over our different experiences. He had been quite 
lucky in the brief space of time, securing his quota of 
elephants, a lion, and a fair bag of miscellaneous game, 
and this with relatively easy hunting and in less than 
six weeks on safari. 

Williams went eastward on the railroad and made a 
detour through the country, but saw nothing but Jack- 
is 373 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

son's and reedbuck. The latter are quite plentiful at 
this point, but of a different species than the common 
reedbuck, which is not found here at all. 

Dawn saw me afield the next morning, again going 
west on the railroad about three miles, and thence turn- 
ing to the south over some fine looking countiy. About 
half past six I located a herd of roan antelope, wliich was 
the game I was after. I got close enough to distinguish 
the bull, but he kept mostly under cover, lying down 
behind some bushes. Occasionally he would rise, and 
so would some of the cows accompanying him, and they 
would wander a short distance and then lie down again. 
I waited patiently for quite a long time until he rose 
from his bed and stood out of the bush, giving me the 
chance I was after. I hit him but a little too far back 
of the shoulder. The whole herd broke off at a gallop, 
and we ran after them as fast as we could. We were 
able to follow them for quite a long time, but then they 
went among the trees, and we lost them, the grass, as 
I have said, being quite high here, and the sides of the 
hills covered with thick growth of thorn trees. 

My disappointment was intense, for he was a mag- 
nificent looking animal, and we kept up our search in all 
directions, hopelessly, but diligently. About eleven 
o'clock, while still searching among trees and long grass, 
I saw something coming towards me with rapid bounds. 
Standing immovable in the shade of a tree, I watched 
it for a wliile, first thinking it was a lion, then dis- 
covering that it was a leopard. It CAidently did not see 

274 














•>1-'' 




LEOPARD 

( Felis pardus) 



ROAN ANTELOPE AND LEOPARD 

me, for it did not deflect from its straight course towards 
me. I waited until it came within about forty yai'ds, 
when I fired. As the first bullet hit him, he turned to 
come at me, snarling and growling, but a second bullet 
knocked him over. He was not quite dead, however, 
and, not wishing to take any chances, I gave a finishing 
shot with the small gun. He was a splendid specimen, 
measuring from the tip of nose to root of tail fifty- four 
and one-half inches in a straight line, and not taken over 
the top of the head. The tail was thirty-seven inches 
long, making a total of seven feet seven and one-half 
inches, without stretching. His height at the shoulders 
was thirty inches, and his girth of chest behind the front 
leg was thirty-one and one-half inches. The forearm 
of the right front leg measured twelve inches and the 
upper arm seventeen inches. He was a beautiful color 
and one of the largest which the men said they had ever 
seen. His dressed hide, as I now have it at home, 
measures over ten feet from tip to tip, and when 
alive he was almost as big as an average lioness. I 
could not imagine what had started him in his wild flight 
until I saw Baringo, our head porter, approaching from 
the same direction as the leopard. No doubt it was he 
who had startled the latter from its lair. 

Baringo told us that some two miles away he had 
seen a roan antelope bull standing under a tree and 
looking as if he were sick. I left one of the porters and 
Baringo to skin the leopard and keep off birds and 
hj'-enas, and with Baccari went after the roan. After a 

275 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 



long search I sighted him standing as described under 
a tree, but he instantly saw me and dashed away. 
Another stalk and again his vigilance detected us and 
he decamped, this time going up over a hill and disap- 
pearing. He was apparently uninjured, and Baccari 
remarked, " Run far; no use." 

I had come all this distance to get a roan 
and, knowing that my hunting days were grow- 
ing scarce and chances few, decided to keep after 
him in spite of Baccari's lack of interest. Crawl- 
ing up over the top of the hill, I at first could 
not find him, but after a long search I located him 
standing back of a bush, watching in the direction from 
which he had expected us to come, but which was not 
the line I had followed, as I had made a detour and 
came up with the wind right and where he did not expect 
us. By this means I was enabled to get a shot and drop 
him. Upon going up, I found he was the one I had 
wounded some six hours before, it being by this time one 
o'clock in the afternoon. He was a splendid bull, with 
fine horns measuring twenty-seven and one-half inches 
in length and very heavy in circumference. 

The roan is one of the largest antelopes existent, 
standing about four feet eight or nine inches at the 
shoulder, ^ith a grayish roan coat. His ears are ex- 
tremely large and apparently out of proportion. His 
face has some very distinct white and black colorations 
on it, and brown cheeks. The dark nose streak stops 
short of the muzzle, which is white. The animal weighs 

276 




BOAN ANTELOPE 

(Hippotrngtis eijuinus) 



ROAN ANTELOPE AND LEOPARD 

about six hundred and twenty-five pounds. In South 
Africa the horns of a roan are much longer than they 
are in East Africa, running in the former from thirty- 
five to thirty-nine inches in some instances, while those 
in the latter rarely exceed twenty-eight inches. Mine 
therefore was an extremely good specimen. We took 
his head, which was no light burden for Baccari to carry, 
while I lugged both the guns. Returning to the leop- 
ard, we sent both its skin and the roan head — a pretty 
satisfactory morning's bag — into Muhoroni, and then 
proceeded after topi. We located some, but they were 
extremely wild, being mixed in with hartebeest, and I 
could not get near them. 

Immediately after our return to camp, a heavy 
thunder storm broke, and we experienced this rain daily 
while at Muhoroni, it usually setting in about four 
o'clock in the afternoon. The regularity with which this 
appeared was noticeable. Between two and three o'clock 
in the afternoon, there would not be a cloud in the sky, 
but shortly afterward small ones would appear, gradu- 
ally increasing in number and size until by four the 
sky would be pitch-black, with lightning playing as I 
had never seen it play before, terrific thundering, and 
a flood of rain that would continue for about an hour. 
Then the skies would clear, the sun appear, and the 
evening would close with a brilliant starlight sky. In 
the morning the grass of course would be soaking wet, 
and within five minutes of the time I entered it my 
clothes would be as drenched as if I had been in swim- 

377 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

ming. This would last for an hour or two, when the 
dry air and the heat of the sun would evaporate it all, 
and by eight or nine o'clock I would be perfectly dry. 

Williams had taken still another direction that morn- 
ing, going to the southeast, and had secured a fine Jack- 
son's hartebeest, the horns measuring twenty-three and 
one-quarter inches in length, twelve inches in circum- 
ference, and eight and one-half inches from tip to tip, 
the best one he got and far ahead of mine. He had 
seen neither topi nor roan. 

On the way back the preceding day I had seen four 
roan bulls near the spot where I first shot mine, and 
these we were careful not to disturb, thinking that 
Williams might get one of them the following day. But 
he failed to locate them, or the topi either, which I had 
seen in considerable numbers in this same country. 

The following morning the Division Superintendent 
of the railroad very kindly took me on his railroad garry 
for seven miles out towards Kibigori, so I was enabled 
to reach this somewhat distant point without fatigue 
and much more quickly than if I had walked. Instead 
of a hand-car such as we are accustomed to see on our 
railroads, tliis gariy is propelled by two negroes push- 
ing it, and I wondered what the soles of their feet must 
be like. They run on the iron rails, which with the 
blazing sun on them must be at a terrific temperature. 
How these creatures can touch this dreadfully hot metal 
>^ith their bare feet is a mystery, as is also the speed 
v.dth which they propel these cars, for they run on the 
level and coast down hill at a rate which carries them 

278 



ROAN ANTELOPE AND LEOPARD 

far up the next hill by momentum, then the motors run 
and push again. They go quite as fast as a hand car. 
The heat was intense, and owing to this and my trying 
hunt through tliick and difficult country, I was entirely 
done up by one o'clock and returned to the bungalow. 
The high grass, from the preceding day's rain, was turned 
into a steaming furnace, like a Turkish bath, and was 
more trying than any work which I had so far ex- 
perienced. I saw innumerable herds of Jackson's, a 
few topi and some roan but could not get near any of 
them. Williams secured a bohor reedbuck the only 
thing he saw during the afternoon. He got a thorough 
drenching from the terrific thunder storm which caught 
him before he returned. 

On Monday, March 16th, I went east on the rail- 
road, circling around to the north but saw only one small 
reedbuck which I shot and hit, but it could not be re- 
covered on account of the long grass in which it had 
hidden, and returned to camp about 10.30. Williams 
went out in the afternoon and shot another reedbuck 
but was unable to find it in the thick grass. Esau, his 
gun bearer, asserted that he could recover it the follow- 
ing morning, which we did not believe ; but the tell-tale 
birds located it for him, and an hour or two after he 
departed, he returned with the buck on his shoulders. 

Oribi were numerous here but were most difficult to 
shoot as the grass was higher than they were and there 
was just one glimpse of them when roused from cover, 
possibly kicked up close to your feet, then they disap- 
peared. I saw nothing in the afternoon and it was such 

279 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

a terrific day that we took the temperature. We found 
it to be 95° in the shade and in the sun we had to remove 
our thermometer after it reached 150°, as we were afraid 
of breaking it. The humidity made the temperature of 
95° seem many degrees hotter than it really was and the 
whole effect was so enervating that I do not believe the 
climate at this point is very healthy. 

My next hunt was at right angles to the railroad, 
directly south of the camp, and into some country that 
I had not penetrated before. There I soon sighted five 
or six wart-hogs and amongst them the best tusks that 
I had yet seen. My efi'orts to get near were unavailing, 
as they would disappear in the long grass every time I 
tried. They are the ugliest and yet most absurd looking 
animals as they proceed in single file, travelling with a 
steady, easy and yet quite rapid trot, their little tails 
held straight up in the air like flag-poles. They look 
like a very easy mark and I risked a shot at long range, 
which told, but did not stop the boar. We followed 
him for a long time, but the long grass swallowed him 
up. Later I saw more wart-hogs, some reedbuck, oribi 
and three roans, a bull and two cows. The cows per- 
mitted me to come quite near them, making an easy 
shot had I wanted one ; but the bull kept far away and 
well out of range. I would not have shot had I been 
able, as I was only allowed by my license one of this 
species, but I was anxious to study them. Williams saw 
nothing in the morning but Jackson's hartebeest, of 
which he got fine specimens. The storm prevented our 
going out in the afternoon. 

280 




KJ.iLi;.\ w rni iiA( caki i iio.\i thk last ija\ s iilnt 



CHAPTER XXVII 

MUHORONI AND ITS GAME 

The 18th found me in the same country that I was 
in the first day, to the right and north of the raih-oad, 
about four miles from camp. I made a long detour, 
during which I shot a fine Jackson, but as the first 
bullet only wounded him, I had a long, hard chase be- 
fore he finally dropped. The amount of lead that these 
animals carry is incredible. I hit him four times before 
he finally stopped, and it took two more shots to finish 
him. This of course sounds like, and no doubt is, bad 
shooting, but it is very easy to miss even as large an 
animal as a hartebeest, or if you hit him, to place the 
shot a few inches off a vital spot. Unless they are hit 
vitally they will go for a great distance. The rapid 
beating and thumping of one's heart after a long run 
makes it extremely difficult to hold the rifle steady and 
to put the bullet in the right spot, and the slightest 
variation from this particular point, which may be the 
head, neck, front shoulder or heart, will be followed by 
a long, hard chase, as African animals, unless vitally 
hit, seem to be insensible to pain, and have far more 
vitality than any animal which I have ever seen in 
America. 

After sending the head and meat back to Muhoroni 
by some Nandi porters that we had engaged at the 

281 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

station, I proceeded on my hunt after topi. A few 
miles away on the top of a hill I located one, but he 
mnded or saw me and disappeared, leading me to a 
band that was apparently undisturbed, and which con- 
sisted of twenty or thirty cows and bulls. It is most 
difficult to distinguish the sex without the greatest care, 
and even with that, one is often mistaken in these 
animals and also in the hartebeest, as in both species the 
females carry horns. In making a quick decision it is 
almost impossible to differentiate them. This particular 
band was among rather thick thorn trees underneath 
which the grass was about three feet high. As it was 
now noon they had ceased feeding and were resting in 
the shade, every now and then changing their position, 
some standing up and some lying down, and as usual, 
always on the alert. 

I succeeded in getting across some open country to 
a bush about four hundred yards from them, but be- 
tween us again lay an open stretch of quite short grass 
rendering it impossible for me to get closer owing to the 
animals' watchfulness. I sat behind this bush for over 
an hour, hoping some change would come in their move- 
ments, and was getting discouraged and preparing to 
take the chance of a long range shot at one of them, 
when something disturbed them or attracted their atten- 
tion on the hill to the back of me. Then, as if he had 
been called, a bull trotted straight toward me without 
the slightest hesitation, looking over my bush and not 
stopping until he came with fifty yards, giving a 




TOPI 

{Damaliscus corrigum jimela) 



MUHORONI AND ITS GAME 

straight-end-on shot. My bullet hit him in the chest and 
went clear through him, cutting the heart. As usual 
with animals shot through the heart, he immediately 
dashed at full sj^eed for about twenty-five yards, turned 
a somersault and dropped dead. 

The topi is the most difficult animal to distinguish 
in certain lights from the hartebeest. Head on with the 
sun behind him, he resembles them extremely, although 
smaller than the bulls of that species; but when liis 
flank is exposed or the sunlight flashes on him, he be- 
comes a curious purple color, the result of the dark red, 
roan body and black markings on his legs. He can 
never be mistaken after once this purple effect is seen, 
for it is distinct and individual. 

My topi's head had just been secured when we were 
surrounded by a number of natives that appeared from 
nowheres apparently, but had been following me all 
morning. They were a dejected, half -starved looking 
lot, and begged some meat. There were so many of 
them that I knew the meat would be a God-send, so 
gave them the entire carcass. Thej^ built some fires 
immediately and proceeded then and there to enjoy 
themselves. 

I went on and saw great numbers of hartebeest and 
one more band of topi. A long shot at one of the bulls 
in this latter band failed to reach him, and I did not 
again meet them. In the afternoon I crossed to the 
south side of the railroad, where I had secured my roan 
and where the first day I had seen topi. They were 

283 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

encountered again, but accompanied by such a large 
number of hartebeest that these prevented near ap- 
proach. I also saw fourteen waterbuck, one of the 
latter having but a single horn. As we had a fuU quota 
of these, they were not of particular interest to me. 

On the following day, I went east on the railroad, 
circling around to the north. About a quarter of a 
mile after leaving the station and while travelling along 
the railroad embankment, I saw a fine reedbuck making 
its way through the long grass some little distance off* 
and giving me a beautiful shot. I dropped him, and as 
the grass was so thick, remained on the bank to point 
out to Baccari the spot where he lay. I was dismaj^ed, 
when Baccari got to where I was sure my buck was 
lying, to find the animal had disappeared, for Baccari 
immediately pressed on farther, and although I called 
to him that he had gone past the game, he paid no 
attention. About a hundred yards further on he 
shouted for me. I ran down and discovered him with 
his face bleeding and a huge cut on it running from 
his eye down to the jaw bone. It seems that the reed- 
buck had crept off* after I dropped him, and Baccari, in 
trailing him through the long grass, came upon him, as 
he thought, dead. He approached him incautiously with 
the result of a terrific kick in the face from his sharp 
hoof which laid the flesh open to the bone making a 
most nasty wound. 

The reedbuck here, known as the Ward's bohor, 
stands about twenty-eight inches at the shoulder, and is 

284 



S o 
a 2 




^ r 

S. H 

a a 

a ^ 




MUHORONI AND ITS GAME 

of a grayish fawn color and rather stockily built. The 
horns are ringed towards the base, and point forward 
with a very distinct curve at the tips. They are very 
local and are found near streams and swamps, appear- 
ing usually either alone or in pairs. 

March 20th, was the last day of our hunt, so I started 
at dawn with the hopes of getting an oribi, the last of 
the species of game to be secured in this district, and 
having been successful by great luck in securing the 
other varieties that I had come for, I was in hopes my 
good fortune would still stay with me. A half hour 
after starting I flushed from at my feet in the long 
grass, two oribi, one of which dashed to the right and 
the other to the left, bounding through the long grass 
and only visible as their jumps brought them above it, 
giving glimpses of their white rumps. It was of course 
impossible to tell which was the buck, so I took a chance 
at the one to the left, holding the rifle on the line of his 
flight and watching for him to appear on his next leap. 
With the greatest of good luck, I managed to drop him 
at 150 yards, a shot that I could not make once in a 
thousand times. He was a very good specimen, the 
horns measuring four and five-eighths inches. 

The oribi stands about twenty-five inches at the 
shoulder and the little horns are very stout and heavily 
ringed for more than half of the length. They have 
large face glands underneath the eyes, and a little bare 
spot back of or below the ears. The tail is short. The 
flesh is very good and the variety found in this part of 
the country is known as Haggard's oribi. 

385 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

This completed my bag, and the whole week was 
one of the luckiest that I could wish for, as I managed 
to get five different species and all were good specimens. 

Continuing on farther I again saw some roan where 
I had first located them and managed to get within 
fifty yards, securing an interesting sight of them. 
Making a ^^dde detour along the hill tops, I encountered 
two large bands of waterbuck and literally hundreds of 
hartebeest, but nothing else that I cared to shoot. On 
my way back, I again passed the old spot where the 
roans had been in the morning and there were fifteen 
or twenty of them there at tliis time, but no bulls ; evi- 
dently I had secured the only one in this particular band. 
They dashed away over the hills, and I lost track of 
them after they got to some short grass country which 
entirely hid their trail. Numerous oribi were flushed 
on the way back, and I reached the bungalow by noon. 




MRS. MADt.lHA AND LION CUB AT NAIROBI 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE END OF THE TRIP 

We photographed the trophies, packed up and at 
6.30 P.M. took the train for Nairobi, where we arrived 
on Saturday, March 21st, at noon, having been exactly 
one hundred days on our trip. 

I found there was a great deal to be done here in 
setthng up for the safari and arranging for the ship- 
ment of the skins and horns. The latter, which we had 
been sending in to Newland, Tarleton & Company from 
time to time, had been treated by them with certain 
chemicals and preparations to prevent the depredations 
of the beetle bug which requires most constant watching 
while trophies are on safari and in shipment. These 
skins and heads, after treatment, were dried and then 
packed in tin-hned, hermetically sealed wooden cases, 
the skins in one lot of boxes and the horns and skulls in 
their separate boxes, all consigned to Messrs. Rowland 
Ward & Company, London, for mounting. 

Our specimens included, besides birds such as the 
marabou stork, crested crane, ibis, etc., the following: 

Coke's hartebeest Bushbuck 

Burchall's zebra Wildebeest 

Thompson's gazelle Hyena 

Grant's gazelle Giraffe 

287 



HUNTING IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 



Steinbuck 

Impalla 

Rhino 

EUypsipriranus 

Defassa 

Eland 

Wart-hog 

Jackson's hartebeest 

Buffalo 

Oryx 

Cheetah 

Dikdik 

Ward's reedbuck 

Oribi 



Roan antelope 

Leopard 

Topi 

Hippo 

Chanler's reedbuck 

Lioness 

Serval cats 

Duiker 

Neumann's hartebeest 

Grant's zebra 

Silver jackal 

Blue monkey 

Baboon 



It is quite expensive to have these boxes made, as 
neither wood nor tin is cheap in Africa. They were 
forwarded on the same ship that we sailed on and made 
a formidable looking lot of freight. They reached 
London about three weeks after us. 

In settling with the safari, every man had to get 
" backsheesh " in proportion to his monthly pay. It is 
expected and rs part of the wages. This oriental custom 
of agreeing upon a definite wage with a bonus for good 
behaviour, is not altogether unreasonable for it is thus 
possible to reward more liberally servants who are 
deserving. 

We naturally had a renewal of acquaintances made 
three months before, and went to a number of dinners 



288 



THE END OF THE TRIP 

and social amusements. We paid the customary calls 
upon the Governor and other officials and said goodby 
to our many friends. 

Our trip from Nairobi to Mombasa was passed 
during daylight on the cow catcher of the engine, par- 
ticularly in going over the Athi Plains where we again 
saw the herds of game that have made this trip so 
famous. We sailed from Mombasa on March 28th on 
the steamship Adour, making our first landing place 
Djibouti, French Somaliland. This is the beginning of 
the railroad that runs up to King Menelik's Abyssinian 
domain, and is one of the main Somali rendezvous, they 
having here a town of their own which is quite 
interesting. 

We reached Port Said late at night April 9th and 
immediately went ashore, spending practically the entire 
night investigating the curious life and conditions of 
this wide-open town, which apparently never closes. 

The only incident on our return voyage, was a very 
severe attack of fever which Mrs. Madeira and I both 
suffered from and which lasted for several days. Our 
temperature ran up as high as 104«°, and I lost eleven 
pounds in sixty hours. Marseilles was, however, safely 
reached in due time and thus a most interesting trip 
completed. 



19 



APPENDIX 



The various marches made by the safari after leav- 
ing Mr. McMillan's farm, follow. 



Date 
December 21 
December 22 
December 23 
December 26 
December 27 
December 28 
December 29 
December 30 
January 
January 
January 
January 
January 
January 



January 18 
January 21 
January 22 



January 
January 
January 

January 

January 

February 

February 

February 

February 

February 

February 

February 

February 

February 



Marching time From To 

1907 6 hours Juja Thika Bridge. 

1907 3 hours Thika Bridge Kiboka. 

1907.. . .5^ hours Kiboka Punda Millia. 

1907.. ..4i hours Punda Millia Fort Hall. 

1907. . . . 5i hours Fort Hall Githai Big Tree. 

1907. ... 4 hours Githai Big Tree Thiba River. 

1907.. ..4 hours Thiba River Fort Embo. 

1907.. . .2 hours Fort Embo Buffalo Swamp. 

1908. ... 4 hours Buffalo Swamp Riping Waler. 

1908 3 hours Riping Waler Thiba. 

1908.. . .6 hours Thiba Tana River. 

1908 3 hours Tana River Hippo Pool. 

1908 2 hours Hippo Pool Buffalo Camp. 

1908. . . . 5^ hours Buffalo Camp 1st camp Tana 

(on return). 

1908. ... 6 hours Tana River Maharagua River. 

1908.. . .3^ hours Maharagua River. . . .Fort Hall. 

1908 5 hours Fort Hall Wambaiga Rest 

House. 

1908 6f hours Rest House Fort Nyeri. 

1908 4^ hours Fort Nyeri Sungari Hill. 

1908. . . .3^ hours Sungari Hill Ngari Rangee 

River. 

1908. ... 3 hours Ngari Rangee R Buyout River. 

1908. ... 2^ hours Buyout River Guaso Nyiro. 

1908. . . . 3J hours Guaso Nyiro 2d camp.same river.. 

1908.. . .4J hours 2d camp on G. N Engobit River. 

1908. . . .4 hours Engobit River Pesi Swamp. 

1908.. . .2 hours Pesi Swamp Rumeruti. 

1908. ... 2 hours Rumeruti 2dcamp PesiSwamj) 

1908. ... 4 hours Pesi Swamp Sugari River. 

1908. ... 1 hour Sugari River 2d camp Sugari R. 

1908. ... 2^ hours 2d camp Sugari R. ... 3d camp Sugari R. 

1908. ... 3 hours 3d camp Sugari R. . . . 4th camp Sugari R. 

291 



ArPENDIX 



Date 
February 25, 1908. 
February 26, 1908. 
February 27, 1908. 

February 28, 1908. 



March 


1, 1908.. 


.4 


March 


2, 1908.. 


..3 


March 


3, 1908.. 


.3 


March 


4,1908.. 


.3 


March 


5, 1908.. 


..4 


March 


6, 1908.. 


-.4 


March 


8, 1908.. 


..5 


March 


9,1908.. 


..7 


March 


10, 1908. . 


.3 



Marching time From To 

. . 3 hours 4th camp Sugari R. . . . 5th camp Sugari R. 

. . 5 hours 5th camp Sugari R. . . Guaso Nyiro. 

. . 4 hours Guaso Nyiro 2d camp Guaso 

Nyiro. 

. .2 hours Guaso Nyiro Junction Guaso 

Nyiro and Guaso 
Narok. 

hours Junction 1st camp G. Narok. 

hours 1st camp 2d camp G. Narok. 

hours 2d camp 3d camp G. Narok. 

hours 3d camp Rumeruti. 

hours Rumeruti 10-mile Camp. 

hours 10-mile Camp Thomson's Falls. 

hours Thomson's Falls Crested Crane 

Camp. 

hours Crested Crane Camp. James's Farm. 

hours James's Farm Nakuru. 



MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM DAY AND NIGHT 
TEMPERATURE 



In the Shade, in Tent 

Day Night 

December 21, 1907 89 63 

December 22, 1907 87 60 

December 23, 1907 87 55 

December 24, 1907 88 60 

December 25, 1907 88 60 

December 26, 1907 87 60 

December 27, 1907 97 70 

December 28, 1907 90 57 

December 29, 1907 90 74 

December 30, 1907 91 70 

December 31, 1907 90 70 

January 1, 1908 89 70 

January 2, 1908 88 65 

January 3, 1908 89 70 

January 4, 1908 85 65 

January 5, 1908 90 70 

January 6, 1908 90 66 

January 7, 1908 85 65 

January 8, 1908 90 70 

January 9, 1908 95 80 

293 



APPENDIX 

In the Shade, in Tent 

Day Night 

January 10, 1908 101 80 

January 11,1908 95 80 

January 12, 1908 92 78 

January 13, 1908 94 82 

January 14, 1908 91 74 

January 15, 1908 90 74 

January 20, 1908 85 65 

January 22, 1908 85 60 

January 23, 1908 80 55 

January 24, 1908 80 50 

January 25,1908 81 53 

January 26, 1908 80 45 

January 27, 1908 80 50 

January 28, 1908 80 45 

January 29, 1908 80 43 

January 30, 1908 80 45 

January 31, 1908 80 42 

LIST OF EQUIPMENT FROM ENGLAND FOR TWO PERSONS 

FOR ONE HUNDRED DAYS SAFARI 

Country of Net weight 

origin Description lbs. oz. 

No. 1-11 — 11 cases, 20x12x12 ea. 2-4 ea. containing 

Ceylon 1 6-oz. tin Tea 6 

Arabia 1 1-lb. tin Ground Mocha Coffee 1 

British 1 5-lb. tin Granulated sugar 5 

U. S. America. . 1 tin Quaker Oats 1 

Switzerland. ... 3 ^-tins Ideal Milk unsweetened sterilized 1 

British 2 ^-tins Oxford sausages 1 

Denmark 3 ^-tins butter 1 

British 1 1-lb. lard 1 

British 1 No. 1 tin camp biscuits 1 

British 1 No. 1 Wheatmeat biscuits 1 

British 2 1-lb. tins jam varied 2 

British 1 1-lb. orange marmalade 1 

British 1 bot. hot Worcester sauce 

British 2 tins C & B meats varied 2 

Holland 2 tins Vezet cheese 1 

British 1 tin Chocolate 1 

British 12 tin salt 

France 2 1-lb. tins French plums 2 

U. S. America. . 1 tin Evaporated pears (in odd no. cases) 

U. S. America. . 1 tin peaches (in even nos.) 1 

293 



APPEXDIX 

flriciB Dooiptioa l:>s. oi. 

Fkaaee 1 tin Frencb strawbetnes ^ odd bo. eases) 1 

Fkaaee 1 tin peaches in symp (in even aos.) 

ILS. Amaacai. . 1 1-Jlk. tiai evaporated Ai»ooCs 1 

Vtmrnet 4 Ins sanfiMs 1 8 

Oolawl 1 1 -lb. tin bntter beans 1 .. 

bdn. 1 14b. tin rice 1 . . 

C. S. Amrrira . 1 tin Royal Baking powder 4 

U.S.AMaia.. 3 doc sparklets 

. i bar Saaiii^ soap S 

. i Imt nickly feat toOet soap C 

. 1 tin SyBOgfaHt's pea soiq> 8 

. 1 boL cfev cfev 1 8 

. } pkL h>n»n paper 

Britxdi 6 Haamb y's so^ sqaares 12 

Italy Ilever tin Macanw. 12 

U 3. America.. . 1 tin Heinz Baked Beaas ^ odd bo. caaes) 

IndiA 1 boL chntner (in evea aos.) 1 

aP»i9ock.KeT&bolt) 

No. 12— Case. 22il3ilS. -2-17. 
2 bats- Brand.T. Xo. 3 

. 4 Uma If aggjg C^ttvinmm^ 8 

. 5 Hns Cocoa 1 4 

. 5 Hiw Cony Poirder 1 4 

. 2 tin openers 1 

1 Sparklet Sqifea. 

1 box SparUek ilt^ ' 

C doa. Sparkleis. . : 

. 5 2-oc. tiBS Mvstard 10 

. 3 2-oc wlale pepper 6 

. 1 bot. Viaegar 1 .. 

. 5 1-Ib. tias Cliocalate. S .. 

. 12 tabs. Pear's soap 2 4 

. 6 tins Potted meats 1 2 

. 1 tin Nepanl Pepper 2 

. 6 tins Cfeese (Taried) 3 

U.S. ftffira. ■ 3 tins Oswego oara floar 3 

SLYiaccat. 3 tias AnovToot. 1 8 

.12be«^e9aeBee. 2 4 

. 6 boxes caadcs (12) 6 . 

. 3 1-Ib. tins evaponfad oaaaas S 

. 2 bots. Scnibb's asBwaia. 

^ pb. Bvoaao paper 

a padkck. key and b^) 

2M 



APPENDIX 

Country of Net weight 

origin Description lbs. oi. 

No. 13— Case, 20.xl3x8. 2-4. 

British 4 pieces bacon, 29^ lbs 29 4 

British 25 lbs. salt for packing canvas ■io 

(1 padlock, key and bolt) 

No. 14— Case, 20x12x1-2. 2-4. 

British 1 doz. bots. lime juice cordial 18 

(1 padlock, key and bolt) 

No. 15— Bale, 37x17x11. 0-2-4. 

• Part of 1-11x9 No. 3 D. R. Ridge tent, green, rot 

proof, canva.s comp. in 3 valises. 
See No. 17 Bale for remainder. 

No. 16— Bale, 62x12x7. 0-2-4. 
Poles of tent, see No. 15 Bale for value. 
1 Ground sheet for tent. 

No. 17— Bale, 36x16x10. 0-2-4. 
Part of tent, for value see No. 15 Bale. 

No. 18— Bale, 45x11x9. 0-2-0. 
1 bathroom for tent. 

1 bedstead and bag 7'x3'. 

2 sun umbrellas. 

No. 19— Bale, 38-15-14. 0-2-4. 
1 Compactum camp bed and bag. 
1 Cork mattress. 

1 hair pillow (green canvas). 

2 plain Jaeger blankets. 
1 green S. L. bag. 

1 X bath and washstand. 

No. 20— Bale, 35-18-15. 0-2-4. 

2 Mosq. curtains to fit tent. 
1 Cork mattress 7x3. 

1 Hair pillow (green canvas). 

3 plain Jaeger blankets. 
1 green S. L. bag. 

1 X table, large. 
1 X table, small. 

295 



APPENDIX 

Description 

No. 21— Bale, 29x17x13. 0-2-4 
1 Basket Canteen for 2 

1 No. 1 Mincer 

2 Table Cloths 
12 Napkins 

1 Tin Ragoon oil 

1 Taxidermist's tool roll 

1 Hunter's axe 

6 doz. Pegging out nails 

No. 22— Case, 32x15x13. 0-2-4 
1 Plain Jaeger blanket 
6 pr. Cotton sheets 

3 1-lb Tins Alum Powder 

3 1-lb Tins Saltpetre 

1 Lord's Lantern Comp. 

4 Cotton Pillow Cases 

No. 23— Case, 28x18x16. 0-2-4 
1 F Tale Lantern 

1 Berkefeld Filter with stirrup 
3 Extra Candles 

3 ea. Extra washers 

2 Canvas buckets 
2 Sq. Alum bottles 
1 6-pt. A T Kettle 
1 Sec. T P Strap 

1 Sec. T. P. Strap with lantern holder 

1 Bread Oven 

2 Galv. Pails 

1 Sq. F Mirror 

1 Housewife fitted 

2 Silk & Wool Cholera belts med. 

1 A & N Medicine chest leather lined 

1 Scissors 

No. 24— Case, 37x22x12. 0-2-6 

2 Croquet chairs 
2 Sun umbrellas 

Packing, cablegram & shipping 
Under Bund 

No. 100—1 Case. 
2 doz. Scotch Whiskey No. 4 
296 



INDEX 



Aard-vark, 266 
Aden, 32 

rain-fall, heat, 26 
Ali Mirra, courage of, 118 
Ammunition, 18 
Ant hills, size of, 265 
Ants, army of, 267 

method of work, 266 
Tana District, 101 
Arabian houses, 27 
Army and Navy Stores, 17 
Arrows, 146 

bought from Wandorobo, 239 
Askari, armed with, 20 
duties of, 20 
wages, 21 
Athi Plains, cool at night, 43 
game on, 39 
grass on, 38 
lions on, 44 
temperature on, 39 
ticks on, 42 
zebra on, 42 

Backsheesh, 135 

advantages of, 288 
Bad shooting, possible cause, 75 
Baldwin locomotive, 32 
Barnes, Mr., 175 
Bathing, 24 
Bees, 267 
Beisa oryx, 169 

shot, 158 
Berridge, Mr. Richard, wounded 

buffalo, 178 
Big Tree, camp at, 61 
Bird drive, 57 



by 



Birds, appear rapidly, 209 

different varieties, 260 

indicate dead game, 208 

indicate game, 279 
Blythe, Mr. Ashton, tragic death of, 

184 
Bohor reedbuck, shoot one, 284 
Buffalo, amongst herd of. 111 

in bush. 111 

charge us, 94 

charges Mrs. Madeira, 131 

dangerous game, 78, 79, 80, 
81 

description of, 116 

fatalities in Uganda, 270 

hunt at Punda Millia, 55 

prepared to charge, 112 

sentry for wounded one, 116 

shot, 110, 112 

shot by Mr. George L. Harrison, 
237 

surrounded by, 56 

threatens Mrs. Madeira, 132 

tosses gun bearer, 113 

\icious looking, 95 

vitality of, 110 

wounded, 91 

wounds Ali Mirra, 118 

wounds Mr. Richard Berridge, 
178 
Bulpett, C. W. L., charged by lion, 

49 
Burchell's zebra, 42 
Bushbuck, description of, 102 

habits, 102 
Bustard, giant, 260 
Buyout River, oryx near, 158 



297 



INDEX 



Camp, cooking and food, 154 

description of, 37 

elevation of, 119, 152 

gazelles near, 187 

at intermediate points, 151 

method of making, 152 

rhino near, 90 

tent-boys, 153 
Chanler, William Astor, trouble with 

rhinos, 80 
Chanler's reedbuck, description of, 54 
Chapman's, Mr. Abel, book "On 

Safari," 262 
Charged by buffalo, 94 
Cheetah, dangerous game, 82 

description of, 53 

shot at Pesi Swamp, 194 
Christmas dinner, hospitality, 57 
Clothing, 23 

in tin boxes, 37 
Coke's hartebeest, description of, 40 
Collier, Mr., 249 
Cook, wages of, 20 
Cordite rifle, 18 
Crested crane, 253 

description of, 261 
Crusades, old weapons, 256 
Custom house, 28, 30 

Damm, Lieutenant, shoots giant pig, 

150 
Danger from wounded bucks, 82 
Dangerous game, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82 
character of country, 78 
cheetah, 82 
leopard, 81 

percentage of fatality, 80 
Mr. F. C. Selous's opinion, 
78 
De Crespigny, Capt., aid asked of, 123 
Defassa waterbuck, description of, 

173 
Dikdik, description of, 222 
a good specimen, 223 



Distance, estimate of, 23 

marched by safari, 291, 292 
shooting, 83 
walked by men, 134 
District Commissioner, duty of, 66 
Djuma, encounter with lion, 49 
Dominick, Mr. Bayard, charged by 

rhino, 180 
Drinking water, 25 
Duiker, description of, 219 

Ears, perforation of, 143 
Eastebrook, Mr., wounded by rhino, 

176 
Eland, description of, 72 

extermination of, 72 

hunt, 93 

shot, 95 

Sudan race, 73 

two shot by mistake, 72 
Elephant forest, 250 

dangerous game, 78, 79, 80, 81 
Elephants, in compound at Rumer- 
uti, 204 

on Mt. Kenia, 59 

near Rumeruti, 248 

near us, 185 

permission to shoot refused, 65 
Elevation, camp on Guaso Nyiro, 161 

Guaso Nyiro, 174 

of Nyeri, 150 

Rumeruti, 248 

of Sungari Hill, 152 
Embo, altitude of, 61 

District, closed territory, 32 

first permit to shoot, 59 

hilly approach, 64 

location of, 58 
Emgobit River, 174 

good lion country, 188 
Equipment, 17 

cost of, 19 

supplies from England, 293, 294, 
295, 296 



298 



INDEX 



Escarpment, descent from, 254 
Euphorbia, different formations, 223 
Euphorbias, dense formation, 221 
density of, 233 

Felt hat, 24 

Fever, an attack of, 289 
Fire-wood, gathering of, 131 
Fishing, and fish, 63 
Flamingoes, pink and white, 259 
Flies, a great pest, 265 
Tana District, 101 
Flowers, bougainvillea vine, 27 
brilliant, 27 
huge trees, 27 
Food, usual supply, 155 
Fort Hall, 52 

altitude of, 61 

importance of, 58 

native police at, 59 

natives at, 58 

traffic on road to, 53 

Game, distances shot at, 83 

all eaten, 84 
Garry, pushed by natives, 278 
Gazelles near camp, 187 
German East Africa Line, 26 
Giant pig, Lt. Damm shot one, 151 
Giraffe, description of, 228 

shot, 226 

Somali species, 228 

stalk herd of, 121 
Githai, clothing of, 61 
Government House, invitation to, 30 
Grant's gazelle, description of, 41, 42 
habitat, 42 
vitality of, 229 

zebra, 42 
Grass, fire, 107 

high as shoulder, 273 

unpleasant character of, 57 
Great Rift Valley, escarpment, 249 
Guaso Narok Canyon, 251 
to Pesi River, 189 



Guaso Nyiro, country bordering on, 
221 

elevation, 161 

northwest of Kenia, 161 
Guinea hen drops among three lions, 

214 
Gun bearer, courage of, 246 

sent to Fort Hall, 117 

tossed by buffalo, 113 

wages of, 19 
Guns, 18 

Hare, difficulties in getting one, 234 

Harrington, Sir John, 172 

Harrison, Mr. George L., shoots 

buffalo and three lions, 237 
Hartebeest, Jackson, 158 

measurement of horns, 278 

Neumann's, description of, 160 

range of, 40 

resemblance to topi, 283 

varieties of, 40, 41 

vitality of, 40, 281 
Headman, Somali, 19 

wages of, 19 
Heat, humidity, 31 

Mombasa, 28 
Hinde, Mr., 30 
Hippopotamus, description of, 105 

difficulty preserving skin, 107 

pool of, 104 

shot, 104 
Hobley, Mr., 34 
Honey bird, 262 

pots, 224 

penalty for stealing, 224 
Horn, Mr., 64 
Hornaday, Mr., 31 
Hotel Norfolk, 35 
Hotels, Mombasa, 30 
Hut tax, collection of, 65, 175 

interferes with elephant 
shooting, 65 
Hyena, crawls inside zebra, 250 



299 



INDEX 



Hyena, men dislike skinning, 250 

mistaken for lion, 170 

near, 92 
Hyenas, eat zebra, 202 

graveyards of Africa, 35 

near Mombasa, 30 

Impalla, description of, 47, 48 

jumping of, 48 

shoot a large one, 222 
Insect, a curious, 264 

life, variegated, 264 
Insects, Tana District, 101 

Jackson, Mr. F. J., 31, 32, 33, 59, 65 

Jackson's liartebeest, habitat, 158 
larger than Coke's, 158 
measurement of horns, 278 
walk one down, 205 

James, Mr., 254, 255 

Jigger, description of, 265 

Juja Farm, game near, 45 

Kiboko, 200 strokes in one day, 232 
Kikuyu, description of, 145 

equipment of, 62 

farms of, 61 

odor of, 62 

porter, wages of, 20 
Kilindini, 27 
Koutou, Chief of Kikuyu tribe, 92 

Lake Baringo, game reported scarce, 

151 
Lane, Mr., 58, 135, 136 

letter from, 126, 128 
sends help, 123 
Leopard, dangerous game, 81, 82 
large one shot, 275 
measurements of, 275 
Lion, black-maned, killed on lam 
River, 243 
capture cub, 216 
chased by Williams, 211 
one circles tent, 225 



Lion, claws poisonous, 217 

dangerous game, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82 

den, on Athi Plains, 44 

difficulties with cub, 218 

drive, Tana District, 103 

faces Mrs. Madeira, 186 

kicked off victim, 236 

killed by Williams, 215 

many tracks, 225 

mauls Ali Mirra, 118 

mauls Mr. Mervyn Ridley, 235 

neatness in disembowelling prey, 
219 

ridden to cover, 156 

stalks Mrs. Madeira, 132 

successful drive, 215 

H. Clarkson Williams mauled 
by, 245 
Lioness, bagged by neighbors, 97, 107 

chased by zebra, 196 

measurement of, 217 

see one, 205 
Lions, black-maned, 200 

eat zebra, 200 

luck in finding, 203 

man-eaters reported, 249 

number of animals killed b}', 85 

number killed '08-'09, 85 

porters report ten, 89 

seldom roar, 199 

strain on nerves, 188 

three shot by Mr. George L. 
Harrison, 237 

in thunder storm, 242 

vitality of, 50 
Long-Innis, Mr., 59, 135 
brings help, 124 
Luckman, Captain, 128 

Madeira, Mrs., cannot find water, 129 
carried no weapons, 19 
charged by buffalo, 131 

by rhino, 130 
dangers when lost, 123 



300 



INDEX 



Madeira, Mrs., did not shoot, 19 
distance walked, 133 
faced by lion, 186 
falls in river, 241 
guarded by Somalis, 193 
returns, 127 
safari searches for, 125 
stalked by lion, 132 
Maharagua River, country near, 122 

, near Fort Hall, 121 
Man-eating lions of Tsavo, 184 
Mannlicher rifles, 18 
Marabou stork, 260 
Masai, companionship of guides, 197 
description of, 141 
guides uncontrollable, 213 
war costume, 68 

dance, 68 
warriors, 144 
weapons of, 142 
women, 143 
McMillan, Mr., 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 
farm, game near, 45 
leaves farm, 52 
ostriches, 51 
Sobat trip, 172 
Medicine, for natives, 149 
Mombasa, approach to, 27 
old fort, 27 
hotels, 30 
leaving, 32 
slave port, 31 
trade of, 31 
trolley, 28 

motive power, 28 
speed of, 28 
Monastery of the White Fathers, 

137 
Mongoose, seen by Mr. Williams, 243 
Montgomery, Mr., 175 
Mt. Ararat, 26 
Mt. Elgon, 46 

Mt. Kenia, elephants on, 59 
on equator, 38 



Mt. Kenia, height of, 38 

snow-capped, 39 
Muhoroni, high grass, 273 
Mule, immune from tsetse fly, 23 

price of, 23 

riding, 23 

slow after lions, 23 

Nairobi, 32 

amusements at, 36 
N'gari Rongee River, rolling plains 

near, 157 
Nakuru, a good hotel, 256 
Nandi foot-hills, 272 
National Collection of Heads and 

Horns, 32, 107, 228 
Native, no ambition, 66 
dislike of work, 67 
fondness for fat, 228 
necessity for work, 68 
police, at Fort Hall, 59 

uniform of, 60 
superstition about hyenas, 202 
Natives, ceremonial party, 137 
difficulty with Masai, 162 
dress of, 29 
farms of, 137 
jewelry, 29 
love of music, 60 
medicine for, 149 
steal honey, 230 
strength of, 29 

of women, 149 
surgery practiced on, 232 
teeth of, 148 
Neumann's hartebeest, far from hab- 
itat, 160 
habitat, 158 
Newland, Tarleton & Co. 35, 189 
preserve trophies, 287 
safari outfitters, 18 
New York Zoological Society, 32 
Number of animals necessary for 
food, 84 



301 



INDEX 



Nyeri, elevation of, 150 
road to, 136 

"On Safari," Mr. Abel Chapman's 

book, 262 
Oribi, description of, 285 

numerous, 279 

shot one, 285 
Oriental races, 26 
Oryx, absence of fear, 171 

beisa, description of, 169 

vitality of, 158 

Ostrich, eggs stolen by Masai, 195 

farming, 51 

farms, 256 

frequently encountered, 196 

Parrakeets playing, 251 
Patterson, Col. J. H., 180 

advises about lions, 188 
builds zareba, 207 
as Chief Game Warden, 
184 
Pears, Captain, 117 

and Mrs., met on Guaso 
Narok, 241 
Personal servants, 35 
Pesi Swamp, enroute, 175 
Phillips, Captain, 108, 109, 117 
Pith helmets, 23 
Pony, preferable for lions, 23 

price of, 23 
Port Said, 26, 32 
Porter, food of, 20 

ration or posho of, 20 
tribes of, 22 
Porters, number of, 59 

punished by beating, 231 
quantity of meat eaten, 84 
steal honey, 230 
tents of, 38 
Portuguese houses, 27 
Punda Millia, ranch of Swift & 
Rutherford, 53 



Punishment of porters, 231 

Red Sea, 26 

tape, 167 
Reedbuck, bohor, shot one, 284 

Ward's bohor, description of, 
284 

wounded, injured Baccari, 284 
Rhinoceros, bad shooting, 175 

bird, 262 

charges Mr. Bayard Dominick, 
180 

charges Mrs. Madeira, 130 

charges Mr. and Mrs. Saunder- 
son, 180 

charges through camp, 70 

dangerous game, 78, 79, 80 

description of, 77, 176 

interferes with lion chase, 211 

near camp, 90 

twenty-three in one day, 120 

two encountered, 88 

wounds Mr. Eastebrook, 176 
Ridley, Mr. Mervyn, mauled by lion, 

235 
Rift Valley, 139 
Rinderpest, 72, 269 
Riping Waler River, camp at, 73 
Roan antelope, description of, 276 

shot one, 274 
Rock rabbits, description of, 220 
Rumeruti, near Pesi Swamp, 187 
Rupee — 33 cents, 19 

Sadler, Sir James Hayes, 30 
Safari, in a fight, 231 

march, a long one, 255 

number of porters, 21 

outfitters, 18 

speed of, 22 

starting march, 22 

troubles with, 230 
Saunderson, Mr. and Mrs., charged 
bv rhino, 180 



302 



INDEX 



Selous, F. C, hunts same country, 
244 
opinion of dangerous game, 
78 
Serval cat, caution of, 183 

description of, 183 
Shooting, distance of range, 83 
Silverad, Mr., advises our route, 
152 
at Fort Nyeri, 150 
Skene, Mr., 58, 135 
Sleeping sickness, 268 
Snakes, 263 

Somali, absence of fear, 98 
at Aden, 26 
Dheria Ahmud, 153 
flogged by Mr. Williams, 240 
food of, 20 
headman, 19 
saves master from buffalo, 117, 

118 
tent-boy, threatens Mr. Williams, 

239 
Warfu Yusuf, 154 
Somalis, accused of stealing, 162 
history of, 138 
influence of, 139 
religion of, 140 
unpopularity of, 141 
Specimens secured, 287 
S. S. Burgomeister, 26 
Steinbuck, description of, 87 
in Laikipia, 87 
shot one, 87 

unusual characteristics, 253 
Stony Athi, camp on, 37 

River, plains on, 38 
Suez, 26 

Canal, speed through, 26 
Sugar! River good lion country, 188 

move to, 199 
Sultan of Zanzibar, 27 
Sungari Hill, elevation of, 152 
Sun-pads, 24 



Surgery, practiced on natives, 232 
Swahili, description of, 147 

porter, wages of, 20 
Swift & Rutherford, Mrs. Madeira 
reaches ranch, 133 
ranch at Punda Millia, 53 
Syces, wages of, 20 

Tana District, description of, 86 
insects, 101 
River, carried over, 120 
ferry boat on, 60 
fording, 120 
head for, 92 
tsetse flies, 69 
Teeth, of natives, 148 
Temperature, 24 

on Athi Plains, 39 

on Guaso Nyiro, 161, 172, 174, 

223 
maximum and minimum, 292 
at Muhoroni, 272 
at Sungari Hill, 152 
of ground, 94, 111 
on Thiba River, 91 
Tent-boys, duties of, 153 

wages of, 19 
Thermometer, maximum, 24 
Thiba River, 86 

camp at, 63 

porters carry us over, 92 
Thika Falls, camp at, 52 
Thomson's gazelle, description of, 
41 
habitat, 42 
Thompson's Falls of the Guaso Na- 

rok, 250 
Thorn trees, and thorns, 131 
Thorns, description of, 109 
Thunder storm, 277 
Ticks, description of, 264 
on rhino, 176 
Tana District, 101 
Tompkins, Mr., 34 



303 



INDEX 



Topi, description of, 283 

resemblance to hartebeest, 283 

shot one, 283 
Totos, 21 
Tsetse flies, valley of the Tana, 69 

fly, 268 

Tana District, 101 

Uganda, 31 

natives, 147 

Railway, game refuge near, 35 
game in sight from, 34 
leaving Mombasa, 33 
natives at station, 33 
not unmixed luxury, 34 

Victoria Nyanza, 33, 34 
Vitality, of buffalo, 110 

of Grant's gazelle, 229 

of hartebeest, 40, 281 

of lions, 50 

of oryx beisa, 158 
Von Haenel's, Lieutenant, encounter 
with rhino, 80 



Wakamba, description of, 145 
Wambaiga Rest House, road 

137 
Wandorobo, description of, 146 
encampment of, 233 
honey pots, 224 
War dance, excitement of, 69 
at Fort Embo, 68 



to. 



Ward's bohor reedbuck, description 

of, 284 
Ward, Rowland, 17, 151 
Ward, Rowland, Book of Record 

Heads, 87 
Wart-hog, backs into hole, 103 

description of, 98, 99 
Wart-hogs at Muhoroni, 280 
Watchfulness of game, 41 
Waterbirds, Lake Nakuru, 259 
Waterbuck, Defassa, description of, 

173 
White-bearded brindle gnu, 46 
Wildebeest, description of, 46 

horns of, 47 
Williams, H. Clarkson, 47 

ammunition carried, 123 
mauled by lion, 245 
shoots two lions, 244 
Wounded game found by birds, 210 
gun bearer, 114 

Zareba, no bait, 195 

build one, 190 

everything but lions, 208 

night in, 192 

Col. Patterson, 188 

sleepless night, 207 
Zebra, chase lioness, 196 

coloring of, 168 

in Laikipia, 192 

lions eat, 200 

protected by companions, 191 

protective coloring, 192 



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